Philippine Senator says arrest imminent, urges public to block ICC transfer

May 13, 2026 5:47 AM EDT

Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa speaks during the founding anniversary of the Philippine National Police celebration at Camp Crame, in Quezon city Metro Manila, Philippines February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

MANILA, May 13 (Reuters) - ‌Philippine Senator Ronald ​dela ​Rosa said on Wednesday that his arrest was imminent and urged people to mobilise ‌to prevent him from being sent to the ⁠International Criminal Court.

Dela Rosa, the chief enforcer in former Philippine ‌leader Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war ‌on drugs, has been hunkered down in his Senate office for three days, fearing he would be ​arrested.

The ICC unsealed an arrest warrant on Monday for the former police chief, dated November, on charges ⁠of crimes against humanity, the same crimes 81-year-old Duterte is accused of as ​he awaits trial in The Hague following his arrest last year.

"I am appealing to you, I hope ​you can help me. Do ‌not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague," dela Rosa said in ⁠a video posted on Facebook.

The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation, which dela Rosa said would be carrying out his arrest, ⁠did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Dela Rosa, ​who showed up at the Senate on Monday for the first time since disappearing from public view in November, has appealed ‌to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr not to hand him over to the ICC.

He has ‌also filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court ⁠urging it to block ‌any attempt to ​transfer him.

(Reporting by Nestor Corrales and Karen Lema; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by David ‌Stanway)



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