Press Release
12 May 2026
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers condemns the decision of the new Senate majority, led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, to place Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa under so-called “Senate protective custody” and to declare that he will not be arrested inside the Senate chamber. This is obstruction of accountability for crimes against humanity, executed on the Senate floor in full public view, on behalf of a man whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has found reasonable grounds to believe was a co-perpetrator in the systematic killing of thousands of poor Filipinos.
The constitutional immunity from arrest available to members of Congress under Section 11, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution applies only to offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment while Congress is in session. The conduct for which Dela Rosa stands accused before the ICC — crimes against humanity — is penalized under Republic Act 9851 with penalties far exceeding that threshold. Even if the warrant were to be enforced through domestic proceedings, the privilege would not apply.
RA 9851 is the governing domestic law. Section 17 authorizes Philippine authorities to surrender persons in the Philippines to an international court already conducting the investigation or prosecution of crimes within its jurisdiction, without requiring a separate domestic charge. The government cannot now disown the same legal framework it invoked when it surrendered former President Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC in March 2025.
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I has confirmed a warrant of arrest against Dela Rosa, issued in November 2025 and made public in May 2026, for his role as indirect co-perpetrator in drug war killings from July 2016 to April 2018. With the ICC’s public confirmation of the warrant, the Philippine government is duty-bound to arrest Dela Rosa and surrender him to the Court.
Despite its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the Philippines remains bound by Article 127(2), which preserves obligations incurred while the treaty was in force. This was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Pangilinan v. Cayetano, where it ruled that withdrawal does not discharge the State from obligations already assumed. The Philippines is likewise bound by the principle of pacta sunt servanda, which requires treaties to be performed in good faith. Section 17 of RA 9851 further gives the State discretion to assume jurisdiction over international crimes or to defer to an international tribunal — and where it chooses to defer, it is expressly authorized to surrender custody of the accused to that tribunal. Surrender under Section 17, it must be stressed, is distinct from extradition: extradition applies between States pursuant to treaty, and the ICC, as an international court, is not a party to any extradition treaty. Finally, there is no provision in RA 9851 or in any applicable procedural rules that grants Philippine courts jurisdiction to confirm or review the enforceability of ICC warrants. Absent such express authority, no court may take cognizance of an ICC arrest warrant or interfere with its execution.
Against this framework, the duty of the Philippine government is clear: cooperate in the execution of the ICC warrant and surrender Dela Rosa to the Court.
We will not soon forget the sight of Dela Rosa — caught on CCTV in an undignified sprint through Senate corridors, faltering up the stairs, retreating behind the walls of the same institution he had largely abandoned while an ICC warrant for his arrest lay sealed. The bravado that once dared critics to come for him dissipated the moment he had to run. After six months of hiding and failing to show up for work as a sitting senator, it is time for him to face the music. ###
Reference:
Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
NUPL Secretary General
+639174316396
📷 Photo Credit: Senate of the Philippines
