Ronald Dela Rosa, a Philippine senator and former chief of the Philippine National Police, has requested judicial protection to prevent his arrest or surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands. Dela Rosa recently returned to the Senate after a period of absence and participated in a vote to remove Senate president Vicente Sotto. Alan Peter Cayetano, a former secretary of foreign affairs under the Duterte administration, was elected as the new Senate president on the same day.
Dela Rosa has been linked to the anti-drug campaign initiated during former President Duterte’s tenure, leading to rumors of an ICC arrest warrant against him. Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents tried to detain Dela Rosa at the Senate building but were unsuccessful. Following the vote to oust Senate president Sotto, Dela Rosa was placed under Senate protection.
Cayetano initiated an investigation into the incident and engaged in discussions with NBI Director Melvin Matibag, who clarified that Dela Rosa would not be arrested immediately but was required to cooperate with ongoing inquiries. Dela Rosa’s legal team filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent any arrest, detention, or surrender without a valid Philippine judicial warrant.
The ICC revealed an unsealed arrest warrant for Dela Rosa, originally issued secretly in November 2025. The warrant accuses Dela Rosa of involvement in a plan to “neutralize” suspects during his leadership of the Philippine National Police, alleging that he facilitated and endorsed the operations.
