Mixed signals on Bato

LOOK WHO’S HERE Absent since November last year, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa appeared in the Senate on Monday to join the pro-Duterte group who engineered the ouster of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. —INQUIRER/YOUTUBE

Unlike in the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his swift surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, the Philippine government has taken a different tack on Duterte’s co-perpetrator and former police chief, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

On March 11, 2025, Duterte was arrested at the airport upon his return from a campaign rally with supporters in Hong Kong. After a 12-hour standoff as his aides frantically fought efforts to take him to a waiting private jet, he was flown to The Hague just before midnight.

President Marcos then justified the arrest of his predecessor, saying the Philippines, while no longer a state party to the ICC’s founding treaty, responded to the request of the International Criminal Police Organization to serve the warrant.

The Dela Rosa fiasco invited comparisons to the flawless operation that brought Duterte to the ICC, where he is now facing trial for crimes against humanity in connection with his brutal drug war.

This time, the government hit the pause button on Dela Rosa’s arrest and allowed two coequal branches of government to intervene—the Supreme Court, which is hearing Dela Rosa’s petition to stop his arrest, and the Senate, which has granted “protective custody” to an incumbent senator.

Final arbiter

This, even if legal experts pointed out that the ICC warrant did not have to go through the local courts because of the existence of a Philippine domestic law allowing the arrest of individuals facing crimes against humanity before international courts.

“Because of the unique situation … wherein [Dela Rosa] is a sitting senator, and there is a pending Supreme Court [SC] decision. We don’t want to step over the Supreme Court,” Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida explained in a press conference. “The Supreme Court, being the final arbiter of all these legal issues, we respect that. Second, we respect the sensitivities of the Senate,” he added.

This new stance is baffling and invites criticisms of a double standard in favor of Dela Rosa amid the highly-polarized political environment and the high-stakes Senate impeachment trial of Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Vida made the clarifications in a press conference last Friday, at the end of a chaotic week in the Senate, which began on Monday with Dela Rosa’s sudden appearance after six months in hiding to help install fellow Duterte ally, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, as the new Senate president.

The clarity would have served law enforcers well if this new position was made timely—as contradictory statements from high officials on whether an ICC arrest warrant had been issued precipitated the confusion and chaos.

Mockery of justice

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents, apparently aware that Dela Rosa would surface, went to the Senate to arrest him, but Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla denied the existence of the ICC warrant. As the situation degenerated on Wednesday, President Marcos announced that he had ordered the NBI to leave the Senate the moment the SC issued its initial ruling.

This signaled the shift in the Marcos administration’s stance toward ICC arrests, since the high court did not issue a temporary restraining order and merely asked both parties to file their comments within 72 hours.

The President’s order came too late, however. Amid the standoff, the Senate security force fired dozens of warning shots against NBI agents on the hallway connecting the chamber to the Government Service Insurance System which owns the complex, putting many lives at risk. In the wee hours of Thursday, Dela Rosa was driven out of the Senate by Sen. Robinhood Padilla and disappeared anew.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) chief, however, stressed that the government will comply with the ICC warrant after the legal issues have been resolved by the SC. And Dela Rosa would be arrested should he attempt to leave the country, he said.

“[The DOJ] will treat any attempt of Senator [Dela Rosa] to leave the country as a mockery of justice,” Vida said. He also expected the Senate to turn over Dela Rosa to the DOJ once the petition at the high court had been resolved.

Stinging reminder

Vida then issued a stinging reminder to everyone not to forget that the issue involves Filipino victims of extrajudicial killings in the Duterte drug war, including Filipino children who will no longer be able to run or seek remedies in local courts, a clear dig at Dela Rosa.

“Tandaan po natin. Sa mga nakalatag na ebidensya sa ICC, may mga biktima po na naghahanap ng katarungan … Huwag po mawawala sa ating isipan na itong tinatawag na EJKs may mga biktima po. At hindi lang po iilan … May mga bata po na hindi na po makakapag-file ng writ of habeas corpus, may mga bata po na hindi na po makakatakbo, na hindi na po makakapangatwiran,” Vida said. This was echoed in the Solicitor General’s response to the petition.

All eyes will now be on the Supreme Court whether it will uphold the search for justice of Filipino EJK victims or enable the main architect of the drug war to continue to flout the law and run from accountability.