Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa had been absent for six months, evading his International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for crimes against humanity case.

He reappeared at the Senate on May 11 to back his ally’s election as the Senate president, resulting in the ouster of the incumbent then, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. In return, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano gave Dela Rosa protection at the upper chamber.

Dela Rosa stayed there from May 11 to 13, until something major happened on May 13. Between 7:45 and 7:48 pm, a shooting incident erupted supposedly between the Senate sergeant-at-arms and the National Bureau of Investigation.

A few hours later, at around 2:30 am on May 14, Dela Rosa slipped out of the Senate compound with his good friend Senator Robin Padilla.

Dela Rosa went into hiding anew after securing Cayetano’s election, and is expected to continue evading his warrant.

With these chaotic events, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was expected to step in and make known to executive agencies concerned what he really wanted.

The words of his Cabinet members, however, only mirrored the indecisiveness of their chief executive. Let’s trace what was said.

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May 9: A promise

News broke out that the ICC warrant against Dela Rosa was already here in the Philippines. This was two days before the Senate coup where the former PNP chief’s vote was crucial. He was the 13th vote needed to oust Senator Sotto and push Cayetano to the top.

A high-level source told Rappler that there was a warrant, yes, but it had yet to be transmitted at the time.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said there was no information about an ICC warrant. However, he said they were preparing to implement it in case the court issued one.

“As of latest update, the DILG is preparing a 10,000-task force for the dragnet operations in case a warrant of arrest for Senator Bato is issued,” Remulla told Rappler.

At that point, it was clear that the DILG and the Philippine National Police (PNP) intended to arrest Dela Rosa.

May 11: Failed arrest, start of confusion

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) — an office under the Department of Justice (DOJ) — tried arresting Dela Rosa at the Senate building. Dela Rosa ran away from the agents, leading to the now infamous staircase chase.

The agents failed, and the Senate went on lockdown. Cayetano said this was to prevent the NBI agents who tried arresting Dela Rosa from leaving after they were held in contempt.

Out of nowhere, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV appeared, holding a supposed copy of the warrant. On the same day, the ICC unsealed the warrant against Dela Rosa, confirming its validity.

But this was where things became confusing. Remulla said Trillanes’ warrant was “inactionable.”

“Just talked to [DOJ acting secretary Fredderick] Vida. The warrant that [former senator] Trillanes holds is a correspondence by the ICC to the PCTC [Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes]. However, we are not part of the treaty,” the DILG chief told Rappler.

“We are affording Senator Dela Rosa due process by waiting for the Interpol to serve notice to the PCTC. As far as the DILG [is concerned], what [former senator] Trillanes has is an unactionable document,” he added.

The Interpol angle appeared to be a way for the Marcos administration to show that it was not directly working with the ICC. When the Marcos administration facilitated Duterte’s arrest in 2025, it said it implemented the warrant because it was coursed through the Interpol.

The reality is, the government actually responded to it by invoking Republic Act (RA) 9851, or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity. Under this law, the Philippine government may surrender a person accused of these crimes in the Philippines to the appropriate international court or tribunal.

Meaning, with or without the Interpol, the Philippines may surrender a suspect to the ICC.

“[The Interpol is] still dependent on the state parties and for this case the Philippines…. The legal basis, it’s not the Interpol, it’s actually our domestic law, RA No. 9851,” ICC common legal representative of the victims Gilbert Andres told Rappler.

But why did the NBI want to arrest Dela Rosa if the DILG was waiting for the Interpol, based on the DOJ’s opinion? It’s unclear.

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May 12: Malacañang acknowledges RA 9851

On Dela Rosa’s second day of hiding at the Senate building, he pleaded to Marcos not to arrest and send him to The Hague, Netherlands.

“Even extrajudicial killings victims want protection from the government,” said Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro as a response to the senator.

Castro also acknowledged the power of RA 9851: “The prevailing law is RA No. 9851. This is what we’ll implement at all times. Because this has been used by the Supreme Court in other cases.”

Note that when Duterte was arrested in March 2025, Castro also said that they followed RA 9851.

May 13: No arrest order from Marcos

Echoing Castro’s position, the DOJ reiterated that the Philippine government can surrender suspects to international courts.

“Under [Republic Act] 9851, we may surrender a suspected or arrested person in the Philippines to the appropriate international court or tribunal. The other mode is extradition,” DOJ spokesperson Prosecutor Rafael Martinez told reporters in a message.

Dela Rosa asked the Supreme Court (SC) in November 2025 to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against his warrant and block his arrest. The SC, on May 13, issued its resolution and asked the parties to comment on the petition within 72 hours or three days.

The court did not provide immediate relief for Dela Rosa. This window could have been used to arrest the former PNP chief, some legal experts said.

“There’s no TRO, so nothing stops the government from proceeding [to the arrest],” said University of the Philippines College of Law associate dean Paolo Tamase. “But they take it at a risk that Senator Bato will argue that the government frustrated the Court’s jurisdiction.”

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What followed, however, was not an arrest, but a shooting incident. Remulla arrived at the Senate and the first thing he said was, he was there to protect the senators, including Dela Rosa. He said he was not there to nab the ICC suspect.

After days of silence, the President spoke, saying they will not arrest Dela Rosa: “There’s no instruction from anyone to arrest Senator Bato.”

Then Dela Rosa escaped from the Senate hours after the commotion.

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May 15: More confusion

A day after Dela Rosa’s escape, the DOJ held a presser to announce a few things.

“Remember that this arrest warrant against Senator Bato dela Rosa is here because there are Filipinos seeking justice…. Here at the Department of Justice, when we charge people, we are with the victims,” the acting DOJ chief said.

If the DOJ was for the victims, why did it take them four days to confirm the warrant? On Friday, Vida said the ICC warrant was valid and that there is a pending request from the ICC to serve it. He added that it was already with the PCTC.

A warrant is ready, there’s still no TRO from the SC, the DOJ believes in RA 9851, and Vida declared that the Philippines has to abide by its “international commitments.” Will an arrest be therefore, happening? No, not yet, according to Vida.

Instead, Marcos’ DOJ chief said they acknowledge the Senate’s independence (since Dela Rosa is supposedly under Senate custody), and will wait for all the legal issues to be resolved at the SC first before making any move.

“We will expect that the appropriate turnover will be made to the Department of Justice once all the legal issues have been resolved for his arrest,” said Vida.

But here goes a confusing detail. Vida said he signed an immigration lookout bulletin order against Dela Rosa to monitor his movements. The basis? Vida said the ICC’s standing warrant.

Then came another perplexing narrative: The acting DOJ secretary said they will arrest Dela Rosa, on the basis of the ICC warrant, if he attempts to leave the country.

“The Department of Justice will treat any attempt of Senator Bato dela Rosa to leave the country as a mockery of justice. And I’m giving specific orders to law enforcement agents, to our border control authorities, that if Senator Bato dela Rosa would try to leave the country, that the appropriate arrest should be made,” Vida said.

If the DOJ is willing to implement the ICC warrant in the event Dela Rosa leaves the country, why wait for an escape attempt? Why can’t the DOJ implement the warrant under RA 9851?

In a hypothetical situation where Dela Rosa attempts to fly out of the Philippines and the DOJ arrests him, where would the DOJ bring him? Will he be brought to The Hague?

“We have no decision yet for that, but of course, we’re considering the case pending at the Supreme Court,” Vida explained.

To top all these confusing answers, the acting DOJ chief said that if Dela Rosa wants, he could be placed under the department’s protective custody: “…The DOJ would be more than willing to make arrangements with him…. He’s an elected senator of the country…. He has lawyers to protect his rights.”

What exactly did Vida mean? That the DOJ would give Dela Rosa protection? Or that the senator should surrender to them?

Amid these mixed signals from Marcos’ secretaries, one thing is certain: The Marcos administration is unsure of what to do with Dela Rosa.

They had the option to arrest him as they did to Duterte, but chose not to. They had a chance — when Dela Rosa was still at the Senate — but they chose to wait.

And now that Dela Rosa is gone again, what’s the next move of the Marcos administration? – Rappler.com