MANILA (May 23) — The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Ronald dela Rosa can now be enforced after the Supreme Court denied his bid to block it, according to Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida.
“The warrant can now be implemented,” Vida said Thursday after the High Court rejected Dela Rosa’s petition for a temporary restraining order and status quo ante order that sought to stop any arrest or enforcement action tied to the ICC process.
The ruling removes a major legal barrier that could have prevented Philippine authorities from acting on the ICC warrant, including coordination through Interpol and other international legal mechanisms.
Dela Rosa had asked the Supreme Court to prohibit authorities from recognizing or carrying out any ICC-issued warrant linked to the tribunal’s investigation into the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign.
The High Court, however, did not grant the relief sought.
With the petition denied, the Department of Justice said law enforcement agencies may now proceed under existing legal frameworks in responding to the ICC warrant.
The decision marks a major legal setback for Dela Rosa, a close ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte and one of the key architects of the administration’s bloody war on drugs, which remains under investigation by the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity.
