MANILA – Malacañang has denied rumors that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest for Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, a key figure in the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs, amid rising speculation following former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest.
“There is wala (none),” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told reporters when asked directly if the ICC had issued a warrant for Dela Rosa. He made the clarification during the send-off ceremony for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
Bersamin, however, acknowledged that the scenario could change if the ICC course any warrant through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), of which the Philippines remains a member.
“If there should be a warrant, we’ll probably do the same thing that we did in the case of the former president [Rodrigo Duterte], if the warrant is coursed through the Interpol because we continue to be a member of the Interpol,” Bersamin said.
“We are not going to do things differently unless the Supreme Court in those pending cases makes a different announcement about how we should proceed,” he added.
Bersamin also stressed that any move by the government would adhere strictly to the law, and not be tainted by political considerations.
“Nothing discriminatory that we will ever undertake. We’re always clear about that, hindi kami (we’re not) politically motivated. All those attributions to us were unfair,” he said.
Dela Rosa, a longtime ally of the Duterte family, was Philippine National Police chief during Duterte’s presidency and architect of the controversial anti-drug campaign “Oplan Tokhang,” which was first enforced in Davao City.
Earlier this year, Dela Rosa’s name appeared in an application for a warrant of arrest posted on the ICC website, listing him among Duterte’s alleged co-perpetrators.
Duterte was arrested in the Philippines on March 11, 2025 under an ICC-issued warrant facilitated through Interpol and is now detained at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague. He faces charges of crimes against humanity for the thousands of deaths linked to the anti-drug operations during his term as both Davao City mayor and president of the Philippines./PN
