A lawyer representing victims of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration’s drug war said nothing stands in the way of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s arrest, particularly after the Supreme Court declined to issue a temporary restraining order against the International Criminal Court warrant.
Gilbert Andres, who serves as legal counsel for EJK victims, cited Republic Act 9851 — the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity — as the operative legal foundation for taking Dela Rosa into custody.
“There has always been a legal basis to arrest Senator Bato in accordance with RA 9851,” Andres told ABS-CBN News on Thursday.
Section 17 of the law provides that Philippine authorities may forgo domestic investigation or prosecution when an international tribunal is already handling the same case, and may instead surrender or extradite the accused to the relevant international court.
Dela Rosa served as national police chief under former President Rodrigo Duterte and is among those facing ICC scrutiny over the bloody drug war campaign.
His legal team has pushed back against that reading of RA 9851. Atty. Israelito Torreon, one of Dela Rosa’s counsels, argued during the Kapihan sa PDP on May 20 that the law falls short on its own. “Section 17 of Republic Act 9851 is not enough. There has to be a statute that would precisely define the procedural mechanism as to how effectuate surrender,” Torreon said, also pointing to Article 88 of the Rome Statute, which obliges state parties to have cooperation procedures available under domestic law.
Andres, however, dismissed the Rome Statute argument as inapplicable. “Dahil lumabas na nga ang Pilipinas at wala na rin po tayo sa Rome Statute, effective March 17, 2019, ay wala na pong bisa bilang Philippine Domestic Law… Kaya hindi na po siya mai-invoke, hindi na po siya magagawang legal na basehan,” he said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros separately called on Dela Rosa to yield to legal processes. “Dapat manaig ang pagrespeto sa batas at prosesong legal,” she said in a statement. “Inuulit ko ang aming panawagan kay Senator Dela Rosa: Igalang ang batas, at mag-submit at makipagtulungan sa mga alagad at proseso ng batas,” she added.
