Dela Rosa again presses SC to reverse ruling on ICC arrest warrant

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has again pressed the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier ruling and stop the use of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him. In a manifestation on Tuesday, October 27, Israelito Torreon, dela Rosa’s lawyer, asked the SC to urgently rule on a pending motion for reconsideration they filed in June, seeking to reverse a May court decision that denied their plea for a temporary restraining order or a status quo ante order to stop the implementation of the ICC arrest warrant. A status quo ante order simply means a rewind or the court wants things returned to how they were before a disputed action happened, while it decides the case. Dela Rosa’s lawyer argued that the enforcement posture surrounding the senator had “escalated” while the motion remained unresolved.

It cited supervening events, including the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) declaration of the senator as “armed and dangerous” and the P50-million bounty offered for his arrest. “Taken together, these are not stray remarks of individual officials. They constitute an announced executive enforcement program: an official ‘armed and dangerous’ designation, a ₱50-million capture bounty from public funds, a dedicated task force, Special Action Force deployment, and express presidential support, 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 reads. Voting 9-5-1, the SC previously denied Dela Rosa’s request for a TRO, saying he had “no clear and unmistakable right to be protected. ” The tribunal also noted that the Senate had provided the lawmaker with protective custody,…