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Associated Press

The Philippine justice chief ordered authorities on Thursday to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of a senator wanted on an alleged crime against humanity. He warned that anyone helping the senator evade a nationwide hunt would face criminal charges.
Senator Ronald Dela Rosa “is a fugitive from justice”, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said in a news conference. “He should be brought to the ICC to face the charges.”
Dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against illegal drugs that killed thousands of mostly petty suspects. The killings alarmed Western governments and human rights groups.
Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested last year and flown to The Hague, where he is on trial at the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity.
Dela Rosa had petitioned the Philippine Supreme Court to block his ICC warrant, arguing that the country no longer belongs to the global court. But the court refused that petition.

Vida said that authorities have leads on Dela Rosa’s whereabouts, but he refused to elaborate. He warned that anyone helping the senator evade arrest would be criminally charged.
A warrant unsealed on May 11 by the ICC charges Dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the national police under Duterte and enforced the then-president’s brutal crackdowns.
“There were thousands, including minors and toddlers, who were killed,” Vida said. “It’s the government’s obligation to support and help them achieve justice.”
Dela Rosa has been absent from the Senate for months due to fears of arrest. However, he made a sudden appearance on May 11 to help Senator Alan Peter Cayetano gain a slim majority and capture the 24-member Senate’s presidency.
Dela Rosa arrived in the Senate in Cayetano’s car. National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to serve the ICC arrest warrant then, but dela Rosa darted to the Senate plenary hall and sought the help of Cayetano and allied senators in the chamber, who took him into protective custody.
Two days later, on May 13, Dela Rosa fled from the Senate after volleys of gunshots were fired by the building’s security personnel. Their chief said they were warning shots after seeing armed government agents positioned in an adjacent building, police officials said.
The gunshots sparked chaos among senators, employees and journalists, including two from Associated Press, inside the Senate.


Police said they were investigating if the chaos was deliberately sparked to allow Dela Rosa to escape by fleeing in an SUV driven by another allied senator, Robin Padilla.
Dela Rosa’s legal predicament came as political disputes escalated between the Duterte family and Marcos. Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, the former president’s daughter, has blamed Marcos for what she said was the “kidnapping” of her father and handover to the ICC.
The vice-president, who has announced plans to seek the presidency in 2028, was impeached last week in an overwhelming vote by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Marcos’s allies.
Her trial by the Senate on criminal allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and a public threat to have the president assassinated was expected to start in July. She has denied the allegations but has refused to answer them in detail.


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The Philippines

Philippine justice chief orders arrest of senator wanted by ICC

Senator Ronald dela Rosa attends a senate session in Manila last week. Photo: AFP

An activist displays a sign calling for the arrest of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, on May 13 outside the Philippine senate. Photo: Reuters

Dela Rosa’s flight turns Philippine Senate into battleground for ICC accountability

Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa shows his bandaged fingers during a session at the Senate in Metro Manila on Tuesday, a day after he evaded an ICC arrest warrant. Photo: EPA

Riot police (front) block supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ronald dela Rosa in front of the Senate gate in Manila on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Philippine Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (second from left) with Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa at the Senate in Metro Manila on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Lawmakers vote on the impeachment of Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio at the House of Representatives on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

ICC fugitive? Duterte ally’s paid Philippine Senate vanishing act draws fire

Philippine former national police chief and now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa tries a semi-automatic rifle during a defence and sporting show in Pasay City in 2023. Photo: AFP

Then Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte talks to then Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa at a press conference in Manila in 2017. Photo: AFP

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officers handcuff a man suspected of involvement in illegal drugs during a raid in Pasig City in 2017. Photo: EPA

Then Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa testifies during a Senate hearing in Pasay in 2017. Photo: Reuters

How fight for Philippine Senate presidency will shape Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial

Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio announces her intention to run for presidency on February 18. Photo: AFP

Philippine senators take their oath as jurors in the impeachment trial of Vice-President Sara Duterte at the plenary hall of the Senate in Manila on Monday. Photo: AFP

Philippine Senate President Alan Cayetano prepares to take his oath as chief judge in Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial on Monday. Photo: AFP

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration to call for the start of the impeachment trial against Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte and the arrest of Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa outside the Philippine Senate on Monday. Photo: AFP

Gunfire, farce and fugitive Philippine Senator Bato dela Rosa

A protester holds a placard of Philippine Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa during a rally calling for his arrest outside the Senate on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Armed Swat team members board a vehicle en route to the Philippine Senate on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa stumbles on the stairs as he runs from law enforcement agents inside the Senate building in Manila on Monday, in this still image taken from a video of CCTV footage. Photo: Reuters

Philippines Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano gestures while talking to the media at the Senate on Thursday. Photo: EPA

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Senator Ronald dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against drugs


Senator Ronald dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against drugs.


Philippine justice chief orders arrest of senator wanted by ICC

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Senator Ronald dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against drugs

Senator Ronald dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against drugs