DUTY-BOUND
PREPARED for any eventuality, the Philippine National Police yesterday said it is “duty-bound” to assist the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) if it enforces any arrest warrant against former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
However, PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Jean S. Fajardo maintained that “as of now, there is no verifiable information as to the reported warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court against the former president who flew to Hongkong over the weekend.”
Just the same, the official said the PNP is duty-bound to enforce any Interpol request regarding the matter citing the principle of reciprocity which was previously used by the police force in tracking down fugitives who have fled to Interpol member-countries.
One of them is former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo who was tracked down in her hiding place in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 4 last year by combined agents of the PNP, the Bureau of Immigration and their Indon counterparts. Guo was dismissed from her post amid allegations she was behind a multi-billion POGO establishment-cum ‘scam farm’ located at the back of the Bamban municipal building.
“We are duty-bound to enforce any Interpol request, the same mechanism used by the PNP when we monitored the presence of Alice Guo in Indonesia. But we cannot directly transact with the ICC as we have to course thru channels,” Brig. Gen. Fajardo said.
The official said that although the national police force headed by General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil is ‘prepared for any eventuality,’ there is no truth to reports that 7,000 policemen have been mobilized to arrest Duterte as soon as he returns from Hongkong. There is also no plan to raise their alert as of press time, she added.
She said that the reported movements at the Davao City International Airport are merely part of the simulation and tabletop exercises being conducted by the Police Regional Office 11 and the Davao City Police Office in relation to their security preparations in the region ahead of the May 12 National and Local Elections.
Brig. Gen. Fajardo said that other police regional offices, not only those in Davao region, are conducting the same simulation and tabletop exercises to finetune their security measures.
The ICC which already has no jurisdiction over the country may issue a warrant of arrest but still needs the help of Interpol since they have no law enforcement units.
The Interpol National Central Bureau in The Philippines is the focal point for all Interpol activities in the country. The NCB connects the country’s national law enforcement with other countries and with Interpol’s General Secretariat.
For the record, the NCB-Interpol helps investigate crime and criminals in the Philippines by requesting information from other NCBs abroad. The NCB shares criminal data and intelligence with other countries to help in their investigations and most importantly, help locate fugitives around the world.
Interpol is an international organization that helps investigate crimes across the world, focusing on cybercrime, counter-terrorism, and organized and emerging crimes. It also helps with human trafficking, corruption, crimes against children, drug and firearm trafficking, counterfeiting, and war crimes.
However, the Interpol-NCB may issue either Blue or Red Notices but not warrants of arrest. In case Interpol request the PNP to serve a notice against the former president, police are really obligated to heed the request or honor that obligation under the so-called ‘principle of reciprocity.’
Brig. Gen. Fajardo however urged reporters and the rest of the public to avoid going into conclusion on where the former chief executive can be taken as soon as they assist in serving any such order on Duterte.
“Let us not jump into conclusion kung saan siya dadalhin. Let’s wait for the process to proceed. We will cross the bridge when we get there,” she said when asked where Duterte will be held in case a warrant for his arrest is issued.
Last August, Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said that although The Philippines is no longer an ICC member, it is still a part of the Interpol. However, the Justice secretary maintained that the Interpol must go through the country’s court system to enforce an arrest warrant from the ICC.
The Interpol defines a red notice as “a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person” when an individual is “wanted by the requesting member country or an international tribunal.”
