By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday deferred Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s urgent motion seeking to prevent his arrest, detention, and transfer in connection with the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In its special session, the SC en banc has instead given respondents a non-extendible period of 72 hours to comment on dela Rosa’s “urgent manifestation with omnibus motion and extremely urgent supplemental manifestation with motion” seeking to stop his arrest.
The court also directed dela Rosa to file his reply within a non-extendible period of 72 hours from receipt of the respondents’ comment.
The SC said the resolution shall be deemed served on the parties and their counsels and shall be released upon its upload to eCourt PH and publication on the SC website.
“The SC held that this is without prejudice to the Court taking any interim or urgent measures as prayed for by Senator Dela Rosa, should it become necessary,” the SC said in a news release.
“The resolution only requires the respondents to comment and for petitioner to file a reply,” SC spokesperson Camille Ting said when asked if the arrest sought to be prevented was taken up by the court.
On May 11, the ICC confirmed that the arrest warrant against dela Rosa was issued “confidentially” on Nov. 6, 2025, in connection with its investigations into the deadly war on drugs during the time of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
This prompted dela Rosa to file an urgent manifestation to prevent his arrest.
Dela Rosa, who served as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief under the Duterte administration, sought a temporary restraining order (TRO), a writ of preliminary injunction, or a status quo ante order (SQAO) to prevent his arrest, detention, or transfer without prior judicial authorization.
He also questioned the validity of a subpoena issued by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group directing him to appear at Camp Crame regarding alleged extrajudicial killings during his time as Davao City police director.
On the same day, Dela Rosa filed the supplemental manifestation alleging that National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives attempted to block his entry into the Senate Session Hall and that former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV presented what he claimed to be a copy of an ICC arrest warrant against him.
Dela Rosa prayed for a TRO and/or SQAO prohibiting the NBI and Trillanes from arresting or detaining him or serving any ICC warrant or other foreign document. (PNA)
