Supreme Court (SC) spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting on Sunday clarified that Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo did not issue any statement regarding Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s supposed warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“For those seeking confirmation regarding social media posts attributing a quote in Filipino to Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo about an alleged arrest warrant for Senator Bato Dela Rosa, please be advised that these posts are false,” Ting told justice reporters.
She issued the clarification amid circulating posts on social media saying that the warrant of arrest cannot be implemented without a decision from the High Tribunal.
The fake statement was posted on several social media pages claiming that the SC made a ruling regarding the matter.
“We cannot repeat what was done to PRRD with his arrest warrant at the ICC because at that time we had not yet passed a strong law regarding this, now there is a need to follow the implementation of the arrest warrant of another country, this must first be heard by the Supreme Court because our court has the first right to prosecute our fellow Filipinos, that means even if an arrest warrant is issued, the prosecution will still go through the Supreme Court first, this is to show respect for our Supreme Court here in the country,” the fake statement reads in Filipino.
Among the pages identified by the SC as having posted the bogus statement are Teacher Celo, Readers Portal, MD TV Channel, and Better Philippines News.
Earlier, the Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified that it is still verifying the information revealed by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against dela Rosa.
