Metro Manila, Philippines – The camp of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa pushed back against the fugitive tag and reiterated his appeal for a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, pointing to the May 13 standoff at the Senate as the basis of the urgent need for such relief.
On May 16, the Office of the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to deny Dela Rosa’s petition to block the implementation of the ICC arrest warrant, calling the senator a fugitive from justice.
In a 117-page reply to the OSG’s comment filed Monday, May 18, Dela Rosa’s lawyers said he is not a fugitive because he “has not fled Philippine jurisdiction, has not defied any Philippine court process, and is before this honorable court precisely to test the legality of the threatened enforcement action.”
Dela Rosa urged the court to immediately issue a temporary restraining order and/or status quo ante order against the implementation of the ICC warrant.
“The necessity for which has been rendered clear, concrete, and urgent by the attempted armed enforcement of an alleged ICC-related process inside the Philippine Senate on May 13, 2026,” the petition stated.
Members of the Senate security, Marines, and police personnel inside the Senate exchanged gunfire with National Bureau of Investigation agents at the nearby Government Service Insurance System building on May 13. Hours later, Dela Rosa left the Senate protective custody.
Ahead of that, Dela Rosa was absent for six months amid talks of a possible ICC warrant for his role as Philippine National Police chief in the bloody war on drugs.
The warrant was confirmed when Dela Rosa resurfaced last week, with NBI agents chasing him on his way to the Senate session hall.
In his petition, Dela Rosa also asked the high court to prohibit law enforcers from arresting, detaining, restraining, transferring, surrendering, rendering, or otherwise removing him from Philippine jurisdiction on the basis of any foreign warrant without one issued by a Philippine court.
He also urged the Supreme Court to ensure that law enforcers would neither enter nor remain in the Senate for such purpose, nor block him from entering Senate premises to perform his functions.
Ultimately, Dela Rosa seeks the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction, a permanent injunction, and other reliefs against the ICC warrant.
