ICC declines confirmation of Bato arrest warrant

MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has declined to confirm the reported issuance of an arrest warrant for Sen. Ronald dela Rosa.

“No, the ICC can’t confirm such news,” ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said in a message to reporters yesterday afternoon.

“ICC news can be found only on ICC official communications channels and press releases, where you could see that only one case to date has been opened, against Mr. Duterte,” he added, referring to the ongoing proceedings against detained former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said over the weekend that an arrest warrant has been issued by the international tribunal against Dela Rosa.

The ICC has not released any public document on the matter.

No other government agency or official confirmed Remulla’s claim, with the Department of Justice saying it was still verifying the information.

The ICC does not always disclose if an arrest warrant has been issued against an individual.

In the case of Duterte, the public redacted version of his warrant of arrest was released only after he was surrendered to the ICC.

Fake news on Supreme Court

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) has warned the public about “false and deceptive” statements online being attributed to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on the alleged arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Dela Rosa.

“For accurate and verified information regarding the statements of the members of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, please refer to the Court’s official website, or its official accounts on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram,” the SC Public Information Office said.

The SC had categorically denied the social media posts that falsely quote the Chief Justice regarding the ICC arrest warrant.

“Please be advised that these posts are false. The Chief Justice has not issued any statement on this matter,” SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said in a statement.

The posts, which included an elaborate quote purportedly from Gesmundo, claimed that the SC had issued an order requiring an ICC arrest warrant for Dela Rosa to undergo a mandatory process and be decided upon by the high court first.

The Chief Justice also allegedly said that the situation involving the previous arrest warrant issued by the ICC against former president Duterte “cannot be repeated” because the high tribunal had not yet passed a “strong law” (new rules on extradition) on the implementation of foreign arrest warrants at that time. — Daphne Galvez