'Blue notices' not made public - Interpol

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has declined to confirm the reported inclusion of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and four other former and current police officers on its Blue Notice list.

- JANVIC MATEO

“Blue Notices – which are used to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation – are not made public,” the Interpol press office said yesterday in response to an inquiry sent by The STAR.

“As with all notice requests, these are assessed by a specialized task force to determine if they are in compliance with our Constitution and rules,” it added.

The Interpol referred the matter to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC-OTP), which supposedly made the request.

In an earlier message to The STAR, the ICC-OTP said that it “does not provide comment on any statements made by governments or other state representatives and is unable to verify or authenticate any documents shared by outside sources.”

“Protecting the confidentiality of our work is crucial, to ensure the safety of all those that the office interacts with and to protect the integrity of our operations,” it added.

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday claimed that Dela Rosa and four others have been placed on the Blue Notice list upon the request of the ICC-OTP.

The other four are former Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde, former PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and former PNP chief intelligence officer Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta.

The ICC-OTP earlier formally tagged the five as suspects in its ongoing investigation into the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs.