The DOJ had this statement about the ICC arrest warrant against Bato dela Rosa
Senator Bato dela Rosa is facing these possible situations regarding the alleged arrest warrant against him from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ombudsman Boying Remulla stated last November 8 that ICC released an arrest warrant against the Senator, who has been a strong ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte. The former chief executive is currently detained by the ICC in The Hague.
Previously, Senate President Tito Sotto said the Senate is not allowing any arrest within the premises of its institution. However, if a Senator is no longer in the Senate premises, then they hold no responsibility for them.
Following the reports about the alleged ICC arrest warrant, Dela Rosa’s camp stated that they had no confirmation yet regarding this, based on the report from Bandera.
“We have not seen nor received any copy of this ICC warrant of arrest. We are just reacting to what we heard over the weekend and what has been circulating online,” Chief State Counsel Dennis Arvin Chan said.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said that they are obligated to execute any arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Senator Bato dela Rosa.
“I believe that we will have to comply,” Prosecutor General Richard “Dong” Fadullon said. He also said that one of the possible situations would be just determining the length of time when it will actually be implemented.
However, if the ICC has indeed issued a warrant, the government may extradite or advance Dela Rosa’s surrender to the ICC.
“We have not seen nor received any copy of this ICC warrant of arrest. We are just reacting to what we heard over the weekend and what has been circulating online,” said Chief State Counsel Dennis Arvin Chan. The official said the government is carefully studying these options.
“Theoretically speaking, the faster approach would be to surrender because if we go through the extradition route, there will be a request for extradition coming in through the Department of Foreign Affairs. It will be transmitted to the DOJ for evaluation. We will file it in the proper trial court,” he said.
When asked why the DOJ is hesitant to move forward with Dela Rosa’s surrender to the ICC, Chan said there is still a pending consolidated petition of habeas corpus filed by the children of former President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte in the Supreme Court (SC).
Chan also said that, as a matter of practicality or propriety, they may have to wait for the SC to decide on the issue because their position is one being questioned by the camp of the former president.
“Maraming kailangang timbangin, maraming kailangan na tingnan na aspekto from different angles, ano,” he added.