Sen. Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has once again asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its May 2026 decision rejecting his bid to stop enforcement of the International Criminal Court warrant against him, filing a 15-page manifestation.
Through his lawyer, Israelito Torreon, Dela Rosa’s camp urged the high court to revisit its refusal to issue a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order that would bar Philippine authorities from arresting and turning him over to the ICC.
Torreon argued that developments since the Supreme Court denied the earlier plea have substantially changed the circumstances. He cited the PNP’s one-week deadline for dela Rosa to surrender, the ₱50 million bounty offered for his arrest, and remarks from PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. characterizing the senator as armed and dangerous.
The manifestation also cited Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s statement that the government was shifting away from negotiations, as well as Malacañang’s order for law enforcement agencies to move swiftly to arrest dela Rosa.
“Taken together, these are not stray remarks of individual officials. They constitute an announced executive enforcement program all directed at the arrest of a sitting senator of the Republic for surrender to a foreign tribunal, while the legality of that very act is pending before this Honorable Court,” the manifestation read.
The Supreme Court rejected dela Rosa’s previous request in May through a 9-5-1 vote, finding that he had not shown a clear and unmistakable legal right warranting immediate protection. The court clarified, however, that its ruling covered only the request for interim relief and did not settle the central legal issues raised in his petition.
The high court said in its May resolution that the rights claimed by dela Rosa rested on legal issues that remained unresolved, including whether ICC warrants could still be enforced after the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute. It also cautioned that a TRO or status quo order could not rest on speculative claims or unverified information.
The Office of the Solicitor General, meanwhile, has maintained a contrary position, saying there is no legal barrier to enforcing the ICC warrant and that Philippine authorities can cooperate with the tribunal under Republic Act No. 9851, which addresses crimes against humanity and cooperation with international tribunals.
Dela Rosa’s wife, Nancy, has also appealed publicly for help, urging people she described as the “powerful few” to stop treating her husband as an enemy.
“I just pray that the powerful few, who were also his friends, would come to realize he is not their enemy nor the enemy of this state,” she wrote.
“He needs your help, not your persecution.”
Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity connected to killings during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. ICC prosecutors have accused him of involvement in at least 32 killings allegedly committed between July 2016 and April 2018.
