Philippine Sen. Ronald dela Rosa wipes a tear as he becomes emotional while talking with other senators before the start of the session at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12. AP-Yonhap
MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine senator said Tuesday he will fight any attempt to send him to the International Criminal Court for prosecution on an alleged crime against humanity, adding he never condoned extrajudicial killings when he led the country's police force.
On Monday, the global tribunal in The Hague unsealed an arrest warrant for Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who first enforced then- President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs crackdowns in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed.
Originally issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018 in the Philippines.
“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate, which took him into “protective custody” Monday when he reappeared after months of absence.
“I will avail of all legal processes,” he said, and pleaded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: “Don’t bring me to The Hague.”
After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte designated dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs.
Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was a longtime mayor and built a political name for his extra tough approach to crimes.
“My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people,” dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.
“When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves,” dela Rosa said.
Source: Korea Times News
