MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reportedly promised Sen. Bato Dela Rosa that he would not allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) to lay a hand on him.
Dela Rosa, who served as former President Rodrigo Duterte’s police chief and played a key role in implementing the nationwide war on drugs, is reportedly next in line for an ICC arrest warrant.
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Following Duterte’s arrest for crimes against humanity, Dela Rosa said he felt betrayed.
“I was expecting that if you are the chief executive, you should stand by your word, but right now, we feel betrayed. We feel betrayed because he personally told me in Malacañang, ‘Not even a hair on your head, Bato, will be touched by the ICC,’” Dela Rosa said in an interview with DZBB.
Marcos allegedly added that allowing the ICC to pursue cases against Duterte and Dela Rosa could set a precedent that might eventually target his own family.
Philstar.com has reached out to Malacañang for comment and will update this story once they respond.
Dela Rosa also expressed disappointment in the president, saying he felt disheartened for the Filipino people.
At the start of his term, Marcos strongly defended Duterte and vowed that the Philippines would not cooperate with the ICC. However, in the months leading up to Duterte’s arrest, Malacañang softened its stance, saying that the government had an obligation to comply with Interpol.
The shift in position coincided with the growing political divide between Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter.
From rejecting ICC involvement outright, Malacañang later said that if the ICC were to request Duterte’s arrest through Interpol, the Philippines would have to comply.
Dela Rosa dismissed this reasoning as weak.
“We are not in Grade 1 to be given an excuse like that,” he said.
The senator also said he was willing to follow Duterte to The Hague once all legal remedies in the Philippines have been exhausted.
Duterte’s war on drugs resulted in at least 6,000 deaths, according to government records. However, human rights groups estimate the actual toll could be as high as 30,000, with children among those killed.
Dela Rosa acknowledged that children were among the casualties of drug war operations but described them as collateral damage.