SOLON TO UNDERGO DUE PROCESS DESPITE ICC WARRANT

SENATOR Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa would not be immediately packed on a plane and whisked off to the Netherland to face trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the past administration’s ‘War on Drugs’ as the government affirmed it would abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court on the correct way to address extradition cases.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, during his regular, ‘Executive Session’ program over DZRH last November 8, first shared the information that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the solon.

Dela Rosa is a co-accused of former president Rodrigo Duterte before the ICC, a notorious international kangaroo court biased against the leaders of Third World countries.

The ridiculous claim of violation of international humanitarian law against Duterte and Dela Rosa involving victims of the Drug War was filed by communist front organizations and their allies in the Liberal Party, who are all tools of Western Imperialism in the country.

Western countries, which fund the ICC, have an axe to grind against the former president.

In October 2017, at a press event in Malacañang, Duterte sent chills down the spine of the European Union (EU) after he ordered their ambassadors to leave the Philippines “in 24 hours” over the EU’s incessant meddling in the country’s internal affairs including a threat to expel the Philippines from the United Nations. “Don’t f*ck with us,” Duterte said back then.

The complaint against the former president gained further traction after the breakdown of the political alliance between the Marcoses and the Dutertes several months after the 2022 elections.

Also impleaded in the case is another known Duterte supporter, Senator Christopher ‘Bong’ Go.

While the ICC, as of this writing, is yet to confirm the issuance of the arrest warrant, Remulla said he got the information on “good authority.”

Bersamin, however, in a talk with the Palace media also on November 8 said Dela Rosa would not be hastily sent to The Hague, similar with what the government did to Duterte last March in view of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Bersamin is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

He added that as far as the Palace is concerned, the ICC has not yet transmitted a copy of the arrest warrant to the International Police Organization (Interpol), which, in turn, would make a formal request for the arrest and extra-territorial rendition of Dela Roza.

What the Supreme Court said

While the SC is yet to act on the petition for writ of habeas corpus filed immediately by Duterte’s camp after he was physically removed from the country in March, it laid down the process to be followed by the Executive Branch under A.M. No. 22-03-29-SC.

Although dated April 8, 2025, it was only released last month, taking effect on November 10, 2025, fifteen days after its official publication.

The new rules is a product of the deliberations by a special Technical Working Group created by the SC to address the issue chaired by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda.

Under the rules, a “Central Authority,” which is the Secretary of Justice, must first file an extradition request before an “Extradition Court” (a Regional Trial Court) upon receipt of an extradition request against a specific Filipino from any official authority of any country or number of countries that have a bilateral or multilateral extradition treaty with the Philippines.

The court would then determine if the subject of the request has committed an “extraditable offense.”

“In all cases,” the Supreme Court said, “the definition of an extraditable offense including the remaining sentence to be served, is subject to the provisions of the applicable extradition treaty.”

The rules also said that extradition shall be granted “only if the remaining sentence to be served is at least six months.”

Only after satisfying the requirements of due process can the Philippines agree to the extradition of any of its citizen for trial and imprisonment abroad.