SolGen to SC: Sen. Bato petitions lack merit, ICC warrant may be enforced in PH

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) asked the Supreme Court (SC) on May 16 to deny the petitions filed by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa for a temporary restraining order against the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant due to a “lack of merit”.

In an 83-page comment, the OSG opposed the senator’s Urgent Manifestation with Omnibus Motion and Extremely Urgent Supplemental Manifestation, which sought to prevent the enforcement of the ICC arrest warrant.

The OSG addressed three main issues, including the legality of the executive department’s enforcement of the ICC warrant, the applicability of extradition rules in its implementation, and the senator’s request for an injunctive writ to stop his arrest and surrender under the warrant.

“The enforcement of an ICC warrant of arrest does not require a corresponding warrant of arrest issued by a Philippine court to be enforceable within the Philippine jurisdiction,” the comment read, citing Republic Act No. 9851.

It added that such enforcement may be carried out by the executive department in line with international obligations, due process standards, and the principle of complementarity.

The OSG further argued that extradition rules do not apply to the enforcement of the warrant.

“Extradition and ICC surrender are governed by different legal sources, animated by different institutional relationships, and implemented through different domestic mechanisms,” OSG stated.

The government also maintained that dela Rosa is not entitled to an injunctive writ, saying he failed to establish a clear legal right, urgent necessity, or any substantial violation that would justify such relief.

It further invoked the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, arguing that the senator may be treated as a fugitive from justice.

“Respondents submit that Senator dela Rosa’s actions are consistent with those of a fugitive from justice,” the comment read. 

OSG said that his departure from the Senate after the unsealing of the ICC warrant and other surrounding circumstances show intent to evade arrest and disqualify him from seeking relief from the courts.

“The law was never intended to provide an excuse for evasion, nor to become a weapon wielded only by those with power. It exists so that even the voiceless dead, whose cries never reached a courtroom, are not forgotten by justice,” the OSG said in their concluding statement.

The ICC previously issued an arrest warrant against dela Rosa, accusing him as an indirect co-perpetrator of crimes against humanity of murder over alleged involvement in a common plan linked to killings in the Philippines.