ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Philippine Senator Flees Arrest as ICC Unseals Warrant For ‘Drug War’ Killings

Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has locked himself inside his Senate office in order to avoid arrest and extradition to The Hague-based court.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa attends a Senate commission hearing in Manila, Philippines, Jun. 4, 2025.

The chief enforcer of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly “war on drugs” campaign has taken refuge in the country’s parliament after the International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of crimes against humanity.

In a statement yesterday, The Hague-based court confirmed that it had issued a warrant for the arrest of Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on November 6, which has since been held under seal.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I “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,” the court said.

Just hours before the ICC confirmed the warrant, Dela Rosa fled into the Senate building, with officers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in hot pursuit, and locked himself in his office. Former Senator Antonio Trillanes, who has led multiple investigations into Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, later told reporters that the NBI personnel were attempting to enforce an ICC warrant.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, an ally of Duterte who was appointed to the position just hours before the stand-off over Dela Rosa’s arrest, later told the press that the 64-year-old had been placed under the Senate’s protection, Inquirer.net reported.

“We will allow an arrest under the condition that it is a Philippine court,” Cayetano said.

According to Reuters, the former national police chief attended a Senate session yesterday for the first time since disappearing from public view in November, around the same time that the ICC confirmed it first issued the warrant for his arrest.

The warrant relates to Dela Rosa’s role in the anti-drug campaign, which prosecutors ‌say killed tens of thousands of suspected drug dealers during Duterte’s six years in office (2016-2022). Many were reportedly little more than poor drug users, or innocents caught in the crossfire. Estimates of the number killed during the anti-narcotics campaign range from an official estimate of around 6,000 to as many as 30,000.

Duterte was arrested in March 2025 and extradited to the ICC, where he faces trial after a pre-trial panel last month ruled that there........

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