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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider No SC restraining order vs ICC arrest of Bato dela Rosa

No SC restraining order vs ICC arrest of Bato dela Rosa

Published May 13, 2026 06:30 pm
The Supreme Court (SC) did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) that could stop immediately the enforcement of the arrest order issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
During its special full court session on Wednesday, May 13, the SC acted on the May 11 motion filed by Dela Rosa’s lawyers who sought the issuance of a TRO against the ICC’s arrest warrant.
With no TRO issued, the SC -- in a resolution -- directed the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) and other respondents to comment within a non-extendible period of 72 hours “upon its upload on the eCourtPH and publication in the SC website” – sc.judiciary.gov.ph.
In a press briefer, the SC’s Office of the Spokesperson also said: “Senator Dela Rosa was likewise directed to file his Reply within a non-extendible period of 72 hours from receipt of the respondents’ Comment.”
It added: “The SC held that this is without prejudice to the Court taking any interim or urgent measures as prayed for by Senator Dela Rosa, should it become necessary.”
Aside from the OES, the heads of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) were among those named respondents in the March 2025 petition filed before the SC by then president Rodrigo Duterte and Dela Rosa.
The filing of the motion by Dela Rosa’s lawyers on the ICC arrest order was a supplementation manifestation on the March 2025 petition docketed in the SC as GR No. 278747.
It was not known immediately if the plea for TRO will be taken up by the SC once the comment has been filed.
The SC is on a month-long decision writing period until the end of May. Regular sessions in both divisions and full court will resume first week of June.
Since last Monday night, Dela Rosa has been holed up at his office at the Senate which granted him protective custody after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) attempted to enforce the arrest order.
In November 2025, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber had issued an arrest order against Dela Rosa as an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the killings that took place during the campaign against illegal drugs during the term of as Davao City mayor of then president Rodrigo Duterte.
The Pre-Trial Chamber had said that then president Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators, including Dela Rosa, “shared a common plan or agreement to neutralize alleged criminals in the Philippines,” and those linked with drug use and sale through violent crimes, including murder.
In the already unsealed warrant, the Pre-Trial Chamber said that Dela Rosa’s alleged involvement in the so-called “common plan” amounts to a “crime against humanity of murder” committed at least between July 3, 2016 and the end of April 2018 in the Philippines, “during which no less than 32 persons were killed.
Former President Duterte was arrested last March 11, 2025 and turned over to the ICC in The Hague in Netherlands where he is currently detained. ICC trial on the charges of crimes against humanity of murder will commence soon, published reports stated.
Dela Rosa and Duterte challenged before the SC the March 11 arrest of the former president and his turnover to the ICC. The petition is still pending resolution by the SC.
Based on the petition, Dela Rosa’s lawyers filed online last Monday, May 11, a supplemental motion for the issuance of a TRO against the enforcement of the ICC’s arrest warrant against the senator.
Led by Israelito Torreon, Dela Rosa’s lawyers questioned the legality of the ICC’s arrest and stressed that they will submit only to the jurisdiction of the Philippine authority.
They told the SC that “any contemplated arrest, detention, custody, transfer, turnover, rendition, or surrender of Petitioner Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ M. Dela Rosa on the basis of any ICC warrant, request, Interpol Red Notice, Diffusion, or analogous foreign or international process shall, at the very least, be subject to prior Philippine judicial authorization and to the procedural safeguards embodied in the 2025 Rules on Extradition Proceedings.”
Earlier, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had reiterated that the Philippines may surrender any Filipino who is subject of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC.
The DOJ said that the same legal stance was used when former president Duterte was arrested in March last year and turned over to the ICC.
It cited Republic Act No. 9851, the 2009 law that defines and penalizes crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity, organizes jurisdiction, designates special courts, and for other related purposes.
The DOJ said that under RA 9851, “the authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties.”
The ICC was established by the 2002 Rome Statute in which the Philippines was a signatory.
However, during the presidency of Duterte, the Philippines withdrew from the ICC and the withdrawal became effective in 2019.
The alleged crimes for which Duterte and Dela Rosa were being held accountable happened at the time the Philippines was an ICC member.

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