It’s official. The government wants Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa, 64, arrested, brought to The Hague and tried before the International Criminal Court for the crimes against humanity of systematic and widespread murder of civilians.
The Prosecution has 35 cases or incidents of murder linked to Bato dela Rosa; 32 will be tackled for trial to prove his crime against humanity. The murders were committed when Bato was named by president Rodrigo Roa Duterte chief of the Philippine National Police from July 1, 2016 to April 19, 2018, the years when the Philippines was still member of the Rome Statute that penalizes crimes against humanity.
In its comment on Dela Rosa’s petition before the Supreme Court asking it to stop his arrest and for other reliefs, the Office of the Solicitor General headed by Darlene Berberabe, recalls:
“As PNP chief, Senator Dela Rosa issued Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016, otherwise known as Project Double Barrel, which launched the government’s nationwide anti-drug campaign.
“That campaign left thousands of Filipinos dead, among them the poor, the defenseless, even children, the nameless. Official figures placed the number of deaths at 6,252, while independent estimates reached as high as 30,000. This Honorable Court, in Almora vs. Director General Ronaldo dela Rosa, took judicial notice of 20,322 deaths during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug war from July 1, 2016 to Nov. 27, 2017, or an average of 39.46 deaths every day.’
“Beyond dispute is petitioner’s central role in that campaign.”
On March 17, 2018, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC, with effect on March 17, 2019. The ICC insisted it had jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed before March 17, 2019. The ICC had initiated probe of the murders committed in connection with Duterte’s anti-drug campaign from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber characterized the killings as a “widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on the territory of the Republic of the Philippines.” The ICC’s jurisdiction was affirmed by the Appeals Chamber on April 22, 2026.
On Feb. 13, 2026, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor identified Senator Dela Rosa as a “co-perpetrator” in a “common plan” with former president Duterte to “neutralize alleged criminals in the Philippines” – first in his capacity as Davao City police chief, and later as PNP chief.
“If someone fights back, they’ll die. If nobody fights back, we’ll make them fight back. Produce blood. Instill fear,” declared chief Dela Rosa in waging his and Duterte’s bloody war, adding, “Patayan sa drugs. Patayan talaga ito sa drugs. Kayong mga drug lords diyan, humanda na kayo at talagang sasagasaan ko kayo.”
Asked to explain why even innocent civilians were killed by the police, the tough-talking bulky chief snapped back, “Well, sh*t happens!”
Now, sh*t will be on the other shoe. On Nov. 6, 2025, ICC secretly issued a warrant of arrest against Dela Rosa. The senator learned about it and went into hiding, for six months, until he surfaced inside the Senate on May 11, 2026 to cast the majority or 13th vote installing Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president in a bid by pro-Sara Duterte senators to influence her impeachment trial with an eye for her acquittal.
The May 11 Senate coup, Bato’s antics in the Senate building (he ran away from pursuing NBI agents seeking to arrest him) and a simulated attack on the Senate on May 13 to cover up Dela Rosa’s escape in a white Fortuner driven by Senator Robinhood Padilla, have triggered a national outrage. “There was no attack on the Senate,” said PNP chief Melencio Nartatez Jr., who investigated the May 13, 2026 shooting incident, instigated by the Senate’s own chief of security, retired major general Mao Aplasca, Bato’s PMA classmate and who has since been suspended for six months.
Bato’s “is a case study in how the powerful corrodes the rule of law: a sitting senator, sworn to uphold the law, who insists that he can determine when a warrant should or should not be enforced. He failed to discharge his duties as senator, suddenly appeared to vote to replace the Senate president, at a time when the impeachment complaint from the House of Representatives is about to be transmitted. After seeking refuge from the august halls of Senate, he ‘escaped’ and continues to hide,” SolGen Berberabe tells the SC, adding:
“In a constitutional democracy, no individual may place himself above lawful process simply because he disagrees with it. Such actions mock our institutions, by evading accountability while simultaneously taking advantage of the very legal processes meant not only to uphold the rule of law, but to make sure that justice is served.
“What makes this especially painful is the stark contrast with the experience of countless victims of Tokhang. They were never afforded the luxury of interpreting the law for themselves, never given the opportunity to question whether force should be used against them, never heard before judgment was effectively carried out. Their judgment was unilaterally issued, not by competent judicial authority, but by those who pulled the trigger. They ended up dead, forever silenced, their deaths too often reduced to a single phrase: ‘nanlaban.’”
“The offenses charged against him (Bato) concern crimes alleged to have struck at the conscience of humanity itself. Equally extraordinary were the years during which he remained beyond the reach of prosecution and insulated by power,” says SolGen.
“To create new protections for one who long stood protected from accountability is to deepen the wounds already borne by those left behind. And to once more extend exceptional privileges to a petitioner who now seeks relief while evading lawful process sends a chilling message – not only to the victims of the drug war, but to all who look to the law for justice: that its protections are strongest for the powerful, and weakest for those who are now dead.”
Bato faces 30 years in jail, or life imprisonment, or what Bato would call sh*t.
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