Senator Bato says arrest imminent, urges public to block transfer to ICC

By Erika Mae P. Sinaking, Reporter and Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel

PHILIPPINE SENATOR Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa said on Wednesday that his arrest was imminent, urging people to mobilize to prevent him from being sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Mr. dela Rosa, the chief enforcer in former Philippine leader Rodrigo R. Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, has been hunkered down in his Senate office for three days, fearing he would be arrested.

The ICC unsealed an arrest warrant on Monday for the former police chief, dated November, on charges of crimes against humanity, the same crimes the 81-year-old Mr. Duterte is accused of as he awaits trial in The Hague following his arrest last year. The senator has dismissed this as based on “fabricated” evidence.

“I am appealing to you, I hope you can help me. Do not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague,” Mr. dela Rosa said in a video posted on Facebook.

The senator said he received information that members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) were headed to the Senate after Wednesday’s session for his arrest.

The NBI did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) announced the premises will be placed on total lockdown, with OSAA personnel seen in bulletproof vests and some bearing long firearms.

Mr. dela Rosa, who showed up at the Senate on Monday for the first time since disappearing from public view in November, has appealed to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. not to hand him over to the ICC.

He has also filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court urging it to block any attempt to transfer him.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted the Philippine government three days to respond to Mr. dela Rosa’s urgent request to block his potential arrest by the ICC.

The High Court, however, has not yet decided whether to grant the temporary restraining order, but noted it can still step in and issue one later “should it become necessary.”

LEGAL SURRENDER
The Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday maintained that Philippine authorities may legally surrender an arrested individual to the ICC, which could be done through extradition proceedings under Republic Act (RA) No. 9851, or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

“Yes, same position. Under RA 9851, we may surrender a suspected or arrested person in the Philippines to the appropriate international court or tribunal. The other mode is extradition,” Spokesperson Raphael Niccolo L. Martinez told reporters via a Viber group chat.

The department’s stance aligns with its previous pronouncements as it awaits a definitive Supreme Court resolution on whether the Philippines remains bound by the Rome Statute for crimes committed prior to its withdrawal from the treaty.

This follows the landmark arrest of now-detained Mr. Duterte in March 2025, who was transferred to the custody of the ICC in The Hague after the Philippine government facilitated his turnover in compliance with an Interpol notice.

The NBI earlier said it is consulting with the DoJ regarding the enforcement of the ICC warrant unsealed this week.

Analysts told BusinessWorld on Tuesday that the Senate should not allow the lawmaker to utilize this measure to evade a valid arrest warrant. They argued that keeping the senator inside the Senate premises effectively blocks the enforcement of international obligations, citing domestic legal provisions and treaty commitments that mandate cooperation with the tribunal.

In a statement on Wednesday, the 1Sambayan Coalition also denounced the protective custody extended to the senator, calling it a dangerous abuse of institutional power.

“The attempt to justify Senator dela Rosa’s protection under parliamentary immunity is legally untenable. Article VI, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution clearly provides that members of Congress are privileged from arrest only for offenses punishable by not more than six (6) years imprisonment while Congress is in session,” the group said.

Five senators on Tuesday evening called on Mr. dela Rosa to voluntarily surrender to proper authorities and seek judicial remedies in accordance with the Constitution, under Senate Resolution No. 395.

As of Wednesday, Mr. dela Rosa still has yet to read the Senate Resolution No. 395 filed by Senators Francis Pancratius N. Pangilinan, Vicente C. Sotto III, Panfilo M. Lacson, Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV.

“I haven’t read it yet, [but] it says ‘surrender.’ My reaction is don’t be so eager, I’ll first avail myself of all the remedies I can,” Mr. dela Rosa told reporters in Filipino.

Senator Rodante D. Marcoleta on Wednesday pushed back against the resolution in his manifestation on Wednesday’s session, noting that the Senate protective custody addresses foreign interference to the affairs of the Philippines.

“To make inroads to the ICC [International Criminal Court] to enable it and structurally alter the Filipino Senate and disenfranchise Filipino voters for the arrested senator will be rendered futile whose votes for the futile senator will be rendered meaningless,” Mr. Marcoleta said.

He called the ICC’s jurisdiction questionable, noting that the Philippines has long withdrawn from the Rome Statute.

“To surrender Senator dela Rosa is to effectively surrender Philippine sovereignty itself,” Mr. Marcoleta said. The Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC took effect in 2019. However, this withdrawal does not exempt the Philippines from the tribunal’s jurisdiction on state actions committed during its membership.

SUBPOENA RECALLED
In a separate development, the CIDG recalled the subpoena it issued against Mr. dela Rosa for its investigation into his alleged links to extrajudicial killings (EJKs), the senator said on Wednesday.

At a media briefing, Mr. dela Rosa expressed his gratitude to the CIDG after it recalled the order asking him to appear before the investigative arm until May 14.

“The CIDG sent a letter (on Wednesday) recalling their subpoena, so thanks to the CIDG for taking pity on me — I would have had to travel there while still under the Senate’s protective custody,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

In a video statement shared by CIDG Public Information Office to BusinessWorld, Philippine National Police (PNP) Spokesperson PBGen. Randulf T. Tuaño confirmed that they recalled the summons out of respect to the Senate protection order.

“[The recall] is in relation to the discussion between the PNP Chief and the CIDG Director, out of respect for the institution of the Senate and the Senate Protection Order they issued for Senator Bato dela Rosa,” Mr. Tuaño said.

He noted that PNP investigations into EJKs will proceed despite the recall, adding they continue to collate the documentations needed.

Mr. Tuaño said that the CIDG will submit another subpoena for Mr. dela Rosa once the Senate protection order lapses.

Meanwhile, Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio criticized the lack of respect for the Senate’s independence and Philippine sovereignty after several senators urged ally dela Rosa to surrender to the ICC.

Speaking to Filipinos in The Hague in The Netherlands on May 12, Ms. Duterte said it was “sad” that some government agencies no longer respected the Senate’s independence, accusing members of the Executive of failing to understand the meaning of sovereignty.

“[Surrendering] is not the call of just anyone because a warrant of arrest that a Philippine court does not issue cannot be implemented on Philippine soil,” she said in Filipino, according to a transcript from her office.

“It is sad because other government agencies are losing respect for the independence of our Senate and it is shameful because we have countrymen, especially the administration, who do not understand what the sovereignty of a country means,” she added. — with Chloe Mari A. Hufana and Reuters