Senator Dela Rosa Evades ICC Arrest
A Filipino senator, who oversaw former president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, has taken refuge inside the country’s Senate, just hours before the International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed a warrant for his arrest.
Ronald Dela Rosa was pictured fleeing into the Senate on Monday as officers pursued him. He narrowly escaped and was subsequently placed under protective custody. Police later stated they would not arrest him while he remained in the custody of the Senate.
Dela Rosa is accused of the killing of at least 32 people between 2016 and 2018, as an ‘indirect co-perpetrator’ in Duterte’s anti-drugs campaign, a period during which thousands of alleged drug dealers were shot and killed.
Former President Duterte has been in ICC custody in The Hague since his arrest in March 2025. Security camera footage shown to lawmakers on Monday depicted National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents pursuing Dela Rosa up flights of stairs and through a corridor in the Senate building after his arrival. An ensuing standoff concluded hours later when the chief of the NBI informed reporters that they would not arrest Dela Rosa while he remained under the Senate’s custody.
Legal Challenges and Political Standoff
Dela Rosa has stated that he intends to remain within the Senate’s premises and ‘do everything’ to avoid being transferred to The Hague. His lawyers claim they have petitioned the Supreme Court to block his arrest, citing the absence of a valid Philippine judicial warrant.
On Tuesday morning, Dela Rosa urged his supporters, who had gathered outside the Senate building, to ‘keep vigil in front of the Senate until the Supreme Court decides’. He also called upon Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is currently feuding with the Duterte political dynasty, to file a local case against him if he believes him to be guilty. ‘If I have an obligation, I will answer it in the local court, not a foreign one,’ he told reporters.
Duterte-Marcos Feud Intensifies
The chaos gripping the Senate coincides with its 24 members, largely dominated by Duterte’s allies, electing a new president on Monday. The new Senate President, Alan Peter Cayetano, informed reporters that the chamber would only act on arrest warrants issued by a Philippine court.
However, it is Marcos’s allies who control the lower House of Representatives, which earlier in the day voted to impeach Duterte’s daughter Sara Duterte, the current Vice-President, for the second time. The feud between the Duterte and Marcos dynasties has become increasingly bitter following the collapse of the alliance that helped them win the 2022 election.
Sara Duterte is considered the front-runner to succeed President Marcos in the next election in two years, and she accuses him of using the ICC arrest warrants and her impeachment as political weapons to weaken her campaign.
ICC Jurisdiction and Rome Statute
For his part, the elder Duterte has refused to recognize the ICC proceedings, arguing that during his presidency in 2019, the Philippines had withdrawn from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding agreement. However, last month, judges in the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber rejected that argument, stating that the alleged crimes occurred between 2011 and 2019 – a period when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC – thereby paving the way for Duterte to stand trial.
Additional reporting from Virma Simonette.
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