DILG on Duterte saying ICC arrest order for Go out: He might be 'high'

MANILA, Philippines — Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Davao City Rep. Paulo “Pulong” Duterte “may have been high” on drugs when a purported source had told him that the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered Sen. Bong Go arrested.

“We’re always prepared. But, those kinds of pronouncements are dangerous,” Remulla told reporters in Camp Crame on Thursday.

“He may have been high (“sabog”) when he heard that because we do not see anything like that,” he noted.

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The Inquirer sought comment from Rep. Duterte’s office on Remulla’s remarks, but he has yet to respond.

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READ: DILG: No formal notice on supposed ICC warrant vs Bong Go, 2 others

In a social media post on Wednesday night, Rep. Duterte claimed that a “highly reliable source” had told him the ICC had issued a warrant to arrest Go and two police officers.

Asked about the supposed source, Remulla likewise said, “He may be just high.”

Also in Camp Crame, pressed on Duterte’s claim that an ICC warrant had been issued for Go and two others, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said, “Good for him that he knows. Me, I don’t know.”

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Nonetheless, he added that the police are prepared to execute an ICC arrest warrant with tracker teams and the agency would take instructions from the Department of Justice.

Go has been identified by the ICC as a co-perpetrator in the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Davao City representative’s father who is currently detained at The Hague, Netherlands.

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Although Rep. Duterte did not identify the two police officers he claimed were the subject of ICC arrest warrants, former PNP chiefs Oscar Albayalde and Vicente Danao have also been named as alleged co-perpetrators of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the case.

In May, the ICC confirmed that it had issued an arrest warrant for former PNP chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who went back into hiding after briefly resurfacing at the Senate.

Asked for updates on the manhunt for dela Rosa, Remulla only said, “We’re searching for him.”

Meanwhile, former PNP chief Camilo Cascolan was also named by the ICC as an alleged co-perpetrator in the Duterte case, but he died in 2023.

Malacañang previously said it would immediately enforce any future ICC arrest warrants. /apl

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