ICC prosecutor welcomes unsealing of arrest warrant vs Bato dela Rosa
The International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor called the decision to unseal the warrant of arrest against Sen. Bato dela Rosa an "important step" in its ongoing pursuit of accountability.
"The warrant of arrest, which has been conveyed to the relevant authorities in the Republic of the Philippines, was originally issued as secret on 6 November 2025, following an application by the Office on 3 November 2025, but has only now become public, following changes in the circumstances," the prosecution said in a statement welcoming the decision.
On May 11, dela Rosa appeared in public for the first time since November 2025, when reports of an ICC arrest warrant against him circulated.
During the Monday Senate session, former senator Antonio Trillanes showed reporters a supposed copy of the ICC arrest warrant against dela Rosa. The Hague Tribunal confirmed that the document indeed is a formal ICC arrest warrant.
It added that it's currently working on unsealing the said document.
In its statement, the Office of the Prosecutor also noted that the Pre-Trial Chamber I found there are reasonable grounds to believe that dela Rosa, who formerly served as Davao City Police Director and Philippine National Police chief, is "responsible for the crime against humanity of murder (article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute), through his involvement in a common plan that lasted approximately 1 November 2011 until 16 March 2019 to kill alleged victims in the Philippines."
They also found grounds to believe dela Rosa was a co-perpetrator of the detained former president Rodrigo Duterte for murders between July 3, 2016, and the end of April 2018.
"The Chamber expressly noted that these murders are a sample that represent a potentially broader pattern of conduct and the OTP may seek to add further alleged criminal incidents at a later stage," the prosecution said.
It also called the arrest warrant against dela Rosa an "important step in the Office's ongoing pursuit of accountability for alleged crimes committed in the context of the so-called 'war on drugs' campaign in the Philippines."
Lastly, the prosecution appealed for direct witnesses to the alleged crimes committed in the drug war—particularly former and present members of the PNP—to provide information.
'Ready to face' arrest warrant
In a Facebook Live on Sen. Robin Padilla's page, dela Rosa said he's ready to face a real warrant of arrest from the ICC. He also described the document with Trillanes as "spurious," as it didn't supposedly have a case number, "only a situation number."
"Haharapin ko 'yan kung idaan nila sa proseso. Kung merong totoong warrant of arrest, dalhin nila sa local court, ayusin nila then pag-usapan natin at haharapin namin 'yan," dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa has been put under Senate protective custody, and he has sought protection from the Supreme Court against a warrantless arrest through an urgent manifestation with an omnibus motion.
Apart from an ICC arrest warrant, the senator also faces a subpoena from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the PNP ordering him to face investigators on May 14 over his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in the country.
