Amnesty International on Thursday called The Philippines has arrested Senator Ronald dela Rosa, expressing deep concern over reports that he fled the Senate building to avoid an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Amnesty International Philippines Executive Director Ritz Lee Santos III said: “We are deeply disturbed by the obstruction of justice and the chaotic scenes in the Philippine Senate…It is extremely worrying that fellow senators and others appear to have helped him evade arrest and delay the execution of the arrest warrant – thereby facilitating his escape.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed on Monday that it had issued an arrest warrant for dela Rosa. The Senator is charged with murder as an indirect accomplice to the crime against humanity under Article 7(1)(a) of the Act Roman Statute This stems from his association with former President Rodrigo Duterte War on Drugs.
The Warranty against dela Rosa was issued confidentially in November 2025. rumor Word spread that the ICC had opened a case against Dela Rosa and seven other indirect accomplices in Duterte’s drug war. Dela Rosa then disappeared, but resurfaced on Monday to take part in a subsequent vote on Senate leadership. He fled after spotting federal agents waiting to arrest him and spent several days barricaded in the Senate building. The senator then fled the building Shots broke out on Wednesday. No injuries were reported and his current whereabouts are unknown.
The senator, who also previously served as police chief, is considered a close ally of Duterte. The former president was arrested on indictment in March 2025 ICC arrest warrant His allegations were confirmed, which initiated formal proceedings. Duterte is also accused of crimes against humanity stemming from the drug war, which allegedly involved the use of death squads extrajudicial killing of tens of thousands of suspected drug dealers and users since 2016, many of them children. The specific allegations of the Arrest warrant are that “Philippine law enforcement authorities, sometimes with the help of non-police personnel such as non-police agents and hired killers, killed as many as 32 people – suspected criminals such as suspected thieves or people allegedly involved in drug-related activities – in various locations in the Philippines.”
Human Rights Watch has praised the ICC case against Duterte, saying: “The ICC case reflects the determination of the victims and their families to seek justice despite all odds and dangers.”
The Philippines was a signatory to the Rome Statute from November 2011 to March 2019, when its withdrawal came into effect. Despite withdrawing from the treaty, the ICC remains responsible for international crimes committed in the country between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019. The charges against dela Rosa relate to his time as chief of the Philippine National Police from July 2016 to April 2018.
