Nine justices voted against granting a temporary restraining order as the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s appeal to halt the International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest — leaving unresolved whether the Marcos administration will move to detain him.
“The SC only decided on the prayers for interim relief. The main issues raised by the parties in their pleadings and motions are yet to be resolved in the main case,” the High Court said in its ruling, which came down 9-5-1 against Dela Rosa.
The ICC’s pre-trial chamber had previously found reasonable grounds to hold Dela Rosa criminally liable for killings attributed to the Davao Death Squad and the drug war campaign under former president Rodrigo Duterte. Dela Rosa served as Davao City police chief before heading the Philippine National Police.
Despite Wednesday’s ruling, a full denial on the merits — which has not yet come — would be required to remove the legal obstacle to actually enforcing the warrant. The Department of Justice signaled on May 15 that it would not act until the Supreme Court settles all pending issues in the main case.
Dela Rosa had been anticipating legal exposure well before the ICC formally unsealed its warrant on May 11, having filed for a TRO as early as November 2025 after going into hiding. He surfaced at the Senate on May 11 in support of the leadership maneuver that installed Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President — and then disappeared again two days later amid mounting pressure.
The night of May 13 saw gunshots fired inside the Senate building by Dela Rosa’s fellow Cavite-born military academy classmate, sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca, who has since been placed on a six-month preventive suspension by the Ombudsman. Dela Rosa slipped out of the Senate compound in the early hours of May 14.
The Ombudsman’s action against Aplasca remains one of several legal threads still unfolding as the High Court prepares to rule on the substantive questions in Dela Rosa’s petition.
