Will Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa surrender himself to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or will he go into hiding as a fugitive from justice?
The guessing game has started as the beleaguered lawmaker flip-flopped over the prospects of being arrested as co-respondent of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte is in prison at the ICC headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands for crimes against humanity that stemmed from his bloody anti- illegal drug campaign that Dela Rosa spearheaded.
Dela Rosa launched the drug war in 2016 in his capacity as Philippine National Police (PNP) director general until he retired from police service to become an elected senator in 2019.
“I am ready to join the old man (Duterte) hoping that they would allow me to take care of him,” said the 6-year senator in a public statement after the March 11 arrest of the former president.
On March 23, however, Dela Rosa turned 180-degrees and declared he will not go to The Netherlands to undergo trial. “Why will I face that warrant when we no longer recognize the ICC? That warrant has no jurisdiction over my person,” he said in an interview with Manila radio dwIZ.
Senate protection
When Dela Rosa was still outlining his plans to surrender, he mentioned about continuing his duty as senator until Congress adjourns on June 6.
Dela Rosa will end his current term by then although he is seeking re-election through the May 12 mid-term elections.
Dela Rosa said his plan was to ask Senate President Francis Escudero to keep him under Senate custody.
“Hangga’t kaya ng Senate President [na] kupkupin muna ako na hindi muna niya ako i-surrender kung may warrant of arrest na [at] may session kami. I hope respetuhin din siya ng executive branch of government kasi meron naman yang mga ganon na protocol,” he said.
(For as long as the Senate President can keep me in custody, I am expecting that I won’t be surrendered when the warrant of arrest is issued while Congress is in session. I hope the executive department will respect the Senate President because there is such protocol in place.)
Dela Rosa said he could be brought to The Hague when curtains finally fall for the 19th Congress.
“I don’t want my family to suffer from cops looking for a heartbeat,” the senator earlier said. “I am ready to submit myself to authorities.”
Change of tune
Dela Rosa later surprised pundits with a sudden change of tune that he focused on the issue of jurisdiction.
“Why will I face that warrant when we no longer recognize the ICC? That warrant has no jurisdiction over my person,” he said.
Dela Rosa said he is questioning the decision by the Philippine government to cooperate with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in implementing the ICC arrest order.
He argued that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. should have declined the service of the warrant since the Philippines has withdrawn its ICC membership in 2019 on order of then president Duterte.
“Can the Interpol dictate on us? Are we not a sovereign state?”
Dela Rosa pointed out that “if that warrant was issued by the Supreme Court or the local courts, then I will face it. Why will I honor a warrant coming from a foreign entity whose jurisdiction no longer applies to us?”
