THERE is still no official response from the office of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa regarding unconfirmed reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has already issued an arrest warrant against him.
As of Saturday, the ICC has also not released any official confirmation that an arrest warrant has been issued for the senator, who played a lead role in the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs when he was chief of the Philippine National Police.
Reports about the supposed warrant surfaced on May 9 through several media outlets and social media accounts. Some reports cited unnamed sources claiming that the ICC had already approved and released the warrant, while others alleged that international law enforcement coordination was already underway.
One circulating report further claimed that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) had allegedly received a copy of the warrant and that representatives of the agency were already in the Philippines.
However, no official statement from Interpol or Philippine law enforcement authorities has been issued to verify the claim.
The ICC’s official website and public communication channels have not published any announcement confirming either the issuance of an arrest warrant or the arrest of dela Rosa.
ICC investigation
Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police and one of the principal implementers of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign, has long been linked to the ICC’s investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Court documents related to the ICC proceedings have previously identified dela Rosa as an alleged “co-perpetrator” in the anti-drug campaign investigation, although no formal charges have been publicly announced against him.
The ICC resumed its probe into the Philippines’ anti-drug operations after concluding that domestic mechanisms were insufficient to fully address allegations of extrajudicial killings linked to the campaign.
Government acknowledgment
Philippine officials had earlier acknowledged the possibility that the ICC could eventually issue warrants against former government officials connected to the anti-drug campaign.
Despite the growing speculation online, previous viral claims alleging that dela Rosa had already been arrested were later fact-checked and proven false.
The Philippine government withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC, in 2019 under the Duterte administration.
However, the tribunal has maintained that it retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member of the court between 2011 and 2019.
As of press time, neither Malacañang, the Department of Justice, nor the Philippine National Police had issued updated statements regarding the latest reports.
