MANILA: The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday (May 11) confirmed it has issued an arrest warrant against Philippine Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who was the police chief of former president Rodrigo Duterte and the main implementor of his controversial war on drugs campaign.
Duterte is detained at The Hague by the ICC, which has confirmed the charges against him in relation to the killings under the illegal drugs crackdown during his presidency from 2016 to 2022.
Dela Rosa, nicknamed Bato, or rock, was seen running into the Senate building hours before the official confirmation of the ICC’s arrest warrant, allegedly being chased by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents sent to implement the warrant.
A commotion occurred between the NBI agents and Senate security staff, who were protecting the senator.
According to the ICC, the arrest warrant against Dela Rosa was secretly issued on November 6, 2025.
The senator "is alleged to have committed the crime against humanity of murder... at least between 3 July 2016 and the end of April 2018, during which no less than 32 persons were killed, in the Republic of the Philippines,” the ICC said in a statement.
ICC judges "found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Dela Rosa is allegedly criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator … for the crime against humanity of murder,” it added.
"Mr Dela Rosa is alleged to have been involved in a common plan that lasted from approximately 1 November 2011 until 16 March 2019 to kill alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production),” the ICC said in a statement.
The ICC launched an investigation into the "war on drugs" in 2018 after complaints were filed by opposition politicians and families of the victims.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC a month after the preliminary investigation started.
According to official records from the national police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, at least 6,252 people were killed in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to May 31, 2022.
Local and international human rights groups have estimated the death toll to be three times higher.
Questions have also arisen about whether the suspects were extrajudicially killed by police and whether some of those killed actually had any role in drug sales. - dpa
