The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant for a prominent Philippine senator linked to the deadly “war on drugs” overseen by ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, which allegedly involved the extrajudicial killings of suspects.
The warrant, originally issued confidentially in November, charges Ronald Marapon dela Rosa, a former Philippine national police chief and a Duterte ally, with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” allegedly committed between July 2016 and the end of April 2018.
Duterte, dela Rosa and other police officials have denied authorising the killings of drug suspects, who, they said, were shot dead after allegedly threatening law enforcers.
Duterte openly and repeatedly threatened drug suspects with death while in office.
The warrant said judges decided after studying evidence submitted by prosecutors that dela Rosa “made essential contributions to committing the alleged crime” of murder and listed him as an “indirect co-perpetrator”.
Dela Rosa appeared unexpectedly in the Philippines Senate on Monday after being summoned as part of a new investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officers tried to run after dela Rosa as he entered the Senate, but failed to reach him as he dashed into the plenary hall and sought the protection of fellow senators.
Philippine authorities said they would not arrest dela Rosa for now for his alleged role in Duterte’s drug war, capping a lengthy Senate standoff.
He will be treated as if in the custody of the Senate, NBI director Melvin Matibag said after the politician had taken refuge in the legislative building.
“We respect that they are a co-equal branch,” Matibag said after the Senate refused to allow dela Rosa, better known by his nickname “Bato”, to be arrested.
“We are hoping that if Senator Bato needs to respond to whatever he is legally required to answer... the Senate will be ready to present Senator Bato,” Matibag added.
The Senate had earlier been on “lockdown”, officers said as barbed wire and riot police surrounded the compound’s gates.
A group of about 50 protesters outside screamed “NBI go home!” at the officers who had come to arrest dela Rosa, who before Monday had not been seen publicly since November.
Newly elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, meanwhile, said that dela Rosa was under the Senate’s protection.
“We will allow an arrest under the condition that it is a Philippine court,” Cayetano told reporters.
“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate.
“I will avail of all legal processes,” he said, and pleaded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr: “Don’t bring me to The Hague.”
Former Philippine senator Antonio Trillanes showed the warrant to the media in Manila on Monday, and the ICC confirmed its authenticity.
Dela Rosa once served as the national police chief under Duterte, and was the first to enforce the bloody campaign against illegal drugs that left thousands of mostly petty suspects dead.
Philippine police officials have summoned dela Rosa to appear before them for an investigation into his role in the Duterte-era killings.
Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the warrant, calling it “another blow to the wall of impunity protecting those who allegedly committed atrocities during the Philippines’ murderous ‘drug war’.”
She called on Philippine authorities to swiftly detain dela Rosa and send him to the court in The Hague. — Agencies
