There is something sneaky about the sudden preoccupation of investigating agencies with the supposed International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest order for Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as the mass movement against corruption ratchets up.

Somebody high up must have been alarmed over the impact of the ongoing corruption controversy on the economy and the market — the same signs that fueled the bigger rallies that ultimately led to the 1986 People Power Revolt that ousted President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

The circumstances make the saga over Dela Rosa very suspicious, chiefly because the issuance of a warrant of arrest was supposedly leaked, but no one in government could verify this.

The ICC is neither confirming nor denying the existence of the order.

Agencies that deal with the ICC, such as the Department of Justice (DoJ), Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of the Interior and Local Government and Malacañang, all denied receiving a document from The Hague, or an Interpol red notice. They claimed a verification is ongoing.

The ICC said that its official communications can be accessed through its online portals, which was basically a denial.

Left-wing groups with an axe to grind against former President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies said a warrant is “certain” but has not yet been made public.

ICC warrants are often sealed until their execution for security reasons, so the destabilizers’ statement is dubious.

In a snap, the Dela Rosa issue has become the center of media attention, diverting the public away from the escalating flood control corruption scandal that has implicated the legislative and executive branches and is getting dangerously close to the President’s doorstep.

The timing, sourcing, inconsistencies and the desired media impact align with the tactics employed in Duterte’s surrender to the international court.

Old controversies are revived to bury new ones, and the ICC, which is struggling to rebuild its image after the disgrace it suffered with Prosecutor Karim Khan’s sexual misconduct case, is a very convenient recourse.

The ongoing probes by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and the DoJ are being criticized for being too opaque and intended to shield personalities at the top rung of the government.

Investors have become skeptical of the probes, leading some to stay on the sidelines, sending the stock index to five-month lows and the peso to record lows. Growth skidded in the third quarter; the slowdown is projected to continue into 2026.

As the string of typhoons again exposed the deadly consequences of the flood control mess, the ICC warrant of arrest story was floated, apparently to buy time.

In local politics, where trial by publicity is common, unverified leaks often serve as a diversion.

Lobbing the ICC trouble of the Duterte allies over to conventional and social media seeks to stop the momentum of the corruption scandal.

Before 8 November — when the claim of an ICC warrant of arrest against Dela Rosa surfaced — the flood scandal dominated the front pages of mainstream media.

When the ICC warrant story exploded, it eclipsed the corruption updates for days. It revived the Duterte-Marcos rift amid the efforts of administration minions to shift the focus of the controversy to the past administration.

The primary aim is clear, which is to dilute the accountability of those in power.