The Philippines said on Friday it would comply with a request from the International Criminal Court to arrest Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a former police chief accused of crimes against humanity linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said Manila had received the ICC warrant and considered it valid, adding that authorities would “definitely” submit to the court’s request while awaiting a ruling from the Philippine Supreme Court on the senator’s legal challenge.
Dela Rosa, whose whereabouts remain unknown, reportedly fled the Senate building before dawn on Thursday after taking refuge there amid an attempted arrest by law enforcement agents.
The senator has denied involvement in illegal killings and argues the ICC no longer has jurisdiction following the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.
The ICC unsealed the arrest warrant against dela Rosa on Monday, accusing him of crimes against humanity tied to the deadly anti-narcotics crackdown carried out under Duterte between 2016 and 2019.
Dela Rosa, who served as Duterte’s national police chief and a leading enforcer of the campaign, is named among several alleged co-perpetrators in the case.
Former President Duterte is currently in ICC detention in The Hague and faces similar accusations connected to the drug war, which the ICC estimates left between 12,000 and 30,000 people dead.
Vida said immigration authorities had been instructed to arrest dela Rosa if he attempted to leave the country, warning that any effort to assist his escape would be treated as “a mockery of justice”.
He added that authorities possessed information about the senator’s whereabouts but clarified that no formal manhunt had been launched.
The developments followed a tense confrontation inside the Senate building earlier this week, where gunfire erupted during an effort by law enforcement officers to arrest dela Rosa.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca was suspended for six months after admitting he fired the first warning shot during the standoff involving National Bureau of Investigation agents.
Troops had been deployed after dela Rosa urged supporters to mobilize against his impending arrest.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr called for calm, while the Senate and law enforcement agencies confirmed that investigations into the shooting incident remain ongoing.