The Department of Justice has directed both the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to carry out the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida announced Thursday.
The directive resolves the posture the PNP had maintained just hours earlier — that it was awaiting DOJ guidance before taking any action. PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño had told reporters at Camp Crame that the CIDG, the unit designated to serve the warrant, was standing by pending exactly such an order.
“The PNP’s specific unit has enough numbers to effect a warrant of arrest for anyone, be they a senator or not,” Tuaño had said, identifying the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group as the assigned unit.
Dela Rosa, who served as PNP chief from 2016 to 2018, was the primary enforcer of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign — a crackdown that human rights groups estimate killed as many as 30,000 people. Duterte was arrested and transferred to ICC custody in March 2025 to face crimes against humanity charges.
The senator had been absent from the Senate for six months before reappearing on May 11. The ICC publicly confirmed upon his return that it had sought his arrest. An earlier attempt by the NBI to serve the warrant was halted after the Senate placed dela Rosa under its protective custody.
His whereabouts remain unclear. In the early hours of May 14, dela Rosa left the Senate compound with Sen. Robin Padilla aboard a vehicle registered to Padilla. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the vehicle was last tracked heading toward Makati City. The PNP CIDG acknowledged it had information on the vehicle’s movements but declined to disclose further details.
The Supreme Court had previously denied dela Rosa’s petition to block enforcement of the ICC warrant absent a local court order — a ruling that cleared a key legal hurdle ahead of Thursday’s DOJ directive.
