A MAJORITY of Filipinos favor the government’s cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and other alleged co-perpetrators in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, a survey by Momentum Research showed.
The survey, conducted from Oct. 16 to 19, found that 58.1 percent of respondents considered it important for the government to coordinate with the ICC to arrest dela Rosa, while 52.2 percent favored government assistance in arresting other alleged drug war co-perpetrators, including Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde.
The survey showed that 33.2 percent considered government coordination with the ICC over dela Rosa’s arrest unimportant. Another 5.9 percent were unsure, while 2.8 percent declined to answer.
On the arrest of other alleged co-perpetrators, 38.6 percent opposed government assistance, while 6.8 percent were unsure and 2.3 percent refused to answer.
The findings showed sharp regional differences, with Mindanao standing out as the only region where a majority opposed cooperation with the ICC in arresting dela Rosa.
In Mindanao, 57.5 percent of respondents said it was unimportant for the government to coordinate with the ICC in arresting the senator, who has been in hiding. Another 54.5 percent opposed government assistance.
By comparison, 71.6 percent of respondents in Metro Manila considered government coordination with the ICC over dela Rosa’s arrest important. The figure was 69.7 percent in the rest of Luzon and 56.2 percent in the Visayas.
A majority in Metro Manila (62.4 percent), the rest of Luzon (58.9 percent) and the Visayas (52.5 percent) also favored government assistance in apprehending other alleged co-perpetrators.
Support for cooperation with the ICC also varied according to political affiliation.
Among respondents identifying with the opposition, 79.4 percent considered government coordination with the ICC over dela Rosa’s arrest important. The figure was 74.5 percent among supporters of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and 64 percent among independents.
Duterte supporters were the least likely to favor cooperation, with 53.2 percent saying it was unimportant for the government to coordinate with the ICC in dela Rosa’s arrest.
The same pattern emerged regarding other alleged co-perpetrators. Support for government assistance in the arrests reached 70 percent among opposition-aligned respondents, 66.7 percent among Marcos supporters and 56.3 percent among independents.
Across generations, Gen Z respondents were the most likely to consider government coordination with the ICC over dela Rosa’s arrest important, at 64.3 percent, followed by Gen X at 60.5 percent, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation at 56.3 percent, and millennials at 51.3 percent.
Views on assisting in the arrest of other alleged co-perpetrators were less uniform. Support stood at 61 percent among Gen Z respondents and 55.2 percent among Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation. Millennials were divided, with 44.5 percent favoring assistance and 47.2 percent opposing it
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for dela Rosa on Nov. 6, 2025, which was unsealed on May 11, 2026. The warrant accuses him of crimes against humanity of murder as an indirect co-perpetrator in the killings of at least 32 people during the height of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Dela Rosa resurfaced on May 11, the day the warrant was unsealed, to cast the crucial 13th vote that briefly made Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano Senate president. He was placed under Senate protective custody that day but slipped out of the Senate complex on May 14 during a gunfire incident.
He has since been in hiding, and the government has offered a P50 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
The noncommissioned survey involved face-to-face interviews with 1,401 Filipino adults and had a national margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points at a 95-percent confidence level.
