Metro Manila, Philippines – Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was absent from the resumption of Senate session on Tuesday, Nov. 11, as speculation was rife that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued a warrant of arrest against him.
Dela Rosa was marked absent during the roll call — the first session following a month-long congressional break.
NewsWatch Plus has reached out to his office for a comment.
Dela Rosa was the Philippine National Police chief of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained at a facility of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands and facing crimes against humanity charges over alleged extrajudicial killings during his drug war.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla maintained that he had seen a warrant of arrest for Dela Rosa, though no other official corroborated his claim.
ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah told NewsWatch Plus on Friday that the tribunal currently has only one active case — that of Duterte.
DOJ: No warrant to date
Earlier on Tuesday, officials from the Department of Justice (DOJ) said they still have not received any ICC warrant of arrest for Dela Rosa.
Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said it is for this reason that authorities are not monitoring the senator’s whereabouts.
“Right now I don’t think there is any request yet from Interpol. I don’t think it would also be right for us to be monitoring the movements of Senator Bato considering the fact that there is no warrant yet that we have seen,” he said.
Chief State Counsel Dennis Chan explained that the DOJ is studying two possible courses of action should the ICC indeed issue a warrant for Dela Rosa’s arrest:
- extradition, which would require a court filing and could take several months; or
- surrender, a faster process similar to what was followed in the case of former President Duterte.
DOJ officials added they are awaiting the Supreme Court ruling on Dela Rosa’s petition questioning Duterte’s arrest and turnover to the ICC in March, saying the decision is expected to clarify the legal process to follow.
Fadullon said any ICC warrant and corresponding Interpol communication would likely be coursed first through the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime before these are transmitted to relevant agencies.
Senate refuge
Dela Rosa earlier admitted that he has considered seeking refuge in the Senate if the ICC issues a warrant against him.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he has requested a legal opinion on the matter, noting that during the arrests of then Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV, the Senate maintained that no sitting senator should be arrested within the chamber while Congress is in session.
“‘Yun ang pinakabawal sa lahat – habang nagsesesyon may dadating, aarestuhin yung senador. ‘Di kami papayag. Kahit sino pa yun,” Sotto told reporters.
[Translation: That (arrest) is prohibited – while there is a session and arresting officers will come for the senator. We will not allow that. Whoever that may be.]
However, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson pointed out that constitutional protections have limits.
“Firstly, kung less than six years yung penalty, may immunity from arrest when Congress is in session — yun ang mga limitations. Kaya kung hindi in session ang Congress, hindi maa-avail ang immunity from arrest. And yung six years or less,” Lacson said.
[Firstly, if the penalty is less than six years, there is immunity from arrest if Congress is in session – those are the limitations. If Congress is not in session, the immunity from arrest cannot be invoked. And six years or less.]
“But we support – we in the majority support – the pronouncement of the Senate president na [that] as long as he is in the premises, at least man lang yung courtesy na huwag gawin dito yung arrest [at least extend the courtesy that the arrest will not happen here],” he added.
