PH to carry out ICC arrest warrant vs Bato if issued, can extradite, surrender him

The Philippines will carry out an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues it, an official of the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Tuesday.

“I believe that we will have to comply,” Prosecutor General Richard “Dong” Fadullon said in a press briefing.

“One of the possible situations would be just determining the length of time when it will be actually implemented,” he added.

Over the weekend, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.

Both the ICC and the DOJ have yet to confirm this.

“We have not seen nor received any copy of this ICC warrant of arrest. We are just reacting to what we heard over the weekend and what has been circulating online,” Chief State Counsel Dennis Arvin Chan said.

However, if true, Chan said that the Philippines can either extradite or surrender Dela Rosa to the ICC. 

“To close the door on one option and just focus entirely on extradition is limiting the state’s discretion under Section 17 of RA 9851,” he said.

He later added that the government is “seriously studying” all options.

According to Chan, a surrender would be faster than extradition. 

“Theoretically speaking, the faster approach would be surrender because if we go through the extradition route, there will be a request for extradition coming in through the Department of Foreign Affairs. It will be transmitted to the DOJ for evaluation. We will file it in the proper trial court,” he said.

Chan said this may last months while a surrender will definitely shorten the process time.

Asked what is preventing the government from choosing to surrender Dela Rosa considering the surrender of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC back in March, the DOJ noted that there were pending petitions at the Supreme Court (SC).

Dela Rosa and Duterte previously asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the Philippine government from cooperating with the ICC and Interpol.

The petitions filed by Duterte's children are also still pending.

In their petitions, the Duterte siblings sought a writ of habeas corpus to secure the release of the former president from his detention. The elder Duterte is currently detained at the Hague Penitentiary Institution or the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands. He is facing charges of crimes against humanity for the drug killings during his term as mayor of Davao City and as president of the Philippines.

“As a matter of practicality or propriety, we may have to wait for the SC to decide on the issue because our position, that is the one being questioned by the camp of the former president,” Chan said.

“Maraming kailangang timbangin, maraming kailangan na tignan na aspeto from different angles, ano,” he added.

(There are many issues to weigh, many aspects to look into from different angles.)

Aside from this, Chan said that ICC will not fall under the definition of a “requesting state” under the country’s extradition law. He also said that the Philippines and the ICC have no extradition treaty.

GMA News Online contacted the office of Dela Rosa but no statement has been issued as of posting time.

Dela Rosa’s camp previously said that it has yet to get a hand on official information that the ICC has indeed issued a warrant against him.

Dela Rosa’s counsel, Atty. Israelito Torreon, also said they have been made aware of circulating reports.

Based on government records, around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration's anti-drug operations. Human rights organizations, however, say that the number may reach 30,000 due to the unreported related slays.

Dela Rosa was the chief of the Philippine National Police when the war on drugs was implemented. —with a report from Giselle Ombay/KG, GMA Integrated News