The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald dela Rosa in connection with the previous administration’s war on drugs, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said in a radio interview on Saturday.
“I have it on good authority…that the ICC has issued a warrant [of arrest] against Sen. Bato Dela Rosa,” Remulla said in an interview over dzRH.
The Ombudsman said the case against Dela Rosa is included in the case against former President Rodrigo Duterte at the ICC.
Dela Rosa was Duterte’s Philippine National Police chief from 2016 to 2018, during which the controversial drug war was launched.
The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, however, said the government, particularly the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, has yet to receive any red notice from Interpol.
“At present, there is no actionable document for the (DILG) to respond to,” the department said.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, for his part, said the ICC may have already issued an arrest warrant but it has yet to be transmitted through Interpol or the International Criminal Police Organization.
Bersamin said the government will not automatically surrender Dela Rosa to the ICC.
In a separate interview, ICC-accredited assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said they cannot confirm any information that the ICC has not publicly shared.
“The last public information shared by the court is that the Duterte defense has transmitted its second tranche of evidence, meaning, all parties are still preparing for the resumption of the confirmation of charges hearing. We’ll know more as soon as the pending issue of Duterte’s fitness is decided, possibly within this month,” Conti said.
She, however, said a warrant against Dela Rosa as Duterte’s alleged co-perpetrator of crimes against humanity is certain considering “what victims know and what the prosecution has presented.”
Conti said Dela Rosa’s name was among those mentioned in the draft charges against Duterte, who has been detained in The Hague since March.
While the names of the eight others were redacted in the publicly-available version of the ICC document, Conti said it shows at least two were police officers, one appointed official, one friend, and one “close enough” to the former President.
Dela Rosa’s counsel, Israelito Torreon, said they have no independent confirmation yet of the alleged warrant.
“We therefore urge the public and the media to exercise caution and restraint in sharing or interpreting such reports until verified information is officially released,” he said.
Torreon said even if an arrest warrant has indeed been issued, it must first go through proper judicial processes in the Philippines.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Upper Chamber will not permit any senator to be apprehended within its grounds, but arrests made outside the Senate are beyond their jurisdiction.
“I am not privy to the warrant being issued. But as I have said in the past, and in consultation with some members of the Senate, to preserve the dignity of the Senate, and as a matter of institutional courtesy, we cannot allow any senator to be arrested in the Senate premises. Outside the Senate premises, that’s no longer our concern,” Sotto said.
Dela Rosa in March promised he won’t allow himself to be caught by the ICC, and that he will only surrender if the arrest is ordered by a local court.
“If their warrant of arrest is issued by the ICC, I won’t let them arrest me,” he said.
In September, Dela Rosa was again asked if he was prepared should the arrest order be implemented, to which he answered: “I am ready.”
