THE lawyer of fugitive Sen. Ronald dela Rosa has urged the Supreme Court to act immediately on his petition challenging the government’s cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), warning that his possible arrest and transfer to The Hague could render the court’s eventual intervention ineffective.
Lawyer Israelito Torreon told The Manila Times that the petition remains pending before the Supreme Court en banc, which has yet to resolve the constitutional questions surrounding the enforcement of the ICC arrest warrant against the senator.
Torreon said the legal situation had become more urgent following what he described as an escalation in the government’s efforts to locate and arrest dela Rosa, including a P50-million bounty on his capture and his designation as “armed and dangerous.” In a 15-page manifestation filed on Oct. 27, Torreon asked the high court to resolve the pending motion for reconsideration of its May 20 denial of the senator’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a status quo ante order.
The Supreme Court denied the request by a 9-5-1 vote. Torreon said the denial did not resolve the main constitutional issues raised in the petition.
He said the circumstances considered by the court in May had since changed, particularly following the Palace’s confirmation on Aug. 6 of a standing presidential order to arrest dela Rosa and its Oct. 24 announcement of a directive for faster and more aggressive police action.
The senator is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity in relation to the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs, which dela Rosa headed at the time as the chief of the Philippine National Police.
Torreon also cited the Oct. 23 statements by the Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary and the Philippine National Police chief declaring dela Rosa armed and dangerous and offering P50 million for his capture.
He argued that the bounty could encourage private individuals to take the law into their own hands, noting that private citizens have no authority to arrest the senator in the absence of a Philippine warrant.
“The right to life is now directly at stake, and a right does not get clearer than that,” Torreon said.
He also said the Philippine National Police had activated tracker teams in every region following the Oct. 30 deadline set in connection with the intensified manhunt.
Torreon said the Supreme Court’s denial of the TRO did not authorize the government to enforce the ICC warrant or surrender dela Rosa to the international tribunal.
“Denying a TRO is not a warrant of arrest. It is not a finding that the ICC warrant can be enforced here, and it is not a surrender order,” he said.
He maintained that the executive branch had treated the court’s denial of interim relief as authority to proceed with the arrest and surrender of the senator, even though the main petition remained unresolved.
Among the questions Torreon said the court must settle is whether an arrest warrant issued by an international tribunal can be enforced in the Philippines without a Philippine court first determining probable cause.
More than 500 tips
PNP chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Monday said they have received not less than 500 information on the whereabouts and location of dela Rosa, including some islands he has never heard of before.
These include different areas in Mindanao, Visayas, Bicol, Southern Tagalog, Northern and Central Luzon, he said, and some places where one had “to cross 11 rivers” to get to.
Apart from the Unified 911 Emergency hotline, the PNP has established hotline numbers specifically dedicated to information leading to the arrest of dela Rosa who currently is the country’s top most wanted with his P50-million bounty.
Law enforcement agencies are now all out on the hunt for dela Rosa after the one-week surrender ultimatum ended Oct. 30.
Bolstered by fresh intelligence, National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag said they are looking to arrest the senator before the year ends.
Nartatez echoed the view and assured the public that police are working round the clock to account not only the fugitive senator, but all subjects of arrest warrants throughout the country.
