Senator Imee R. Marcos on Thursday criticized what she described as a “specious and suspicious” report from the Office of the Ombudsman concerning an alleged warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
In a statement, Marcos questioned both the Ombudsman’s and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) actions in connection with the reported ICC warrant, calling their handling of the matter “deeply troubling.”
“Is it part of the Ombudsman’s mandate to execute warrants of arrest issued by a tribunal that the Philippine government does not even recognize?” Marcos asked, adding that coordination with the ICC would be beyond the Ombudsman’s lawful functions.
“Is it within his lawful functions to coordinate with the ICC in any capacity? If not, then maybe he should focus on his actual work,” she added pointedly.
Marcos also rebuked the DOJ for what she described as its apparent willingness to “resurrect the same illegal mechanism” allegedly used against former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s repeated statements rejecting ICC jurisdiction.
“Even without any formal request or communication from either the ICC or Interpol, the DOJ appears eager to resurrect the same illegal mechanism it once used against former President Rodrigo Duterte,” the senator said.
The ICC has been investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed in the course of the Duterte administration’s controversial “war on drugs.”
Dela Rosa, a key figure in the campaign and former Philippine National Police chief, has been repeatedly named in international rights complaints, though the Philippine government has maintained that it withdrew from the ICC’s Rome Statute in 2019 and is therefore no longer under its jurisdiction.
Citing Section 17 of Republic Act No. 9851, the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, Marcos asserted that Philippine authorities cannot arrest a person solely for ICC surrender purposes without a warrant from a local court.
“Let me remind the DOJ that before any Philippine authority can surrender a person to the ICC or to any other jurisdiction, it must first have lawful custody of that individual,” she said.
“To construe otherwise would amount to authorizing extrajudicial arrests for the purpose of delivering Filipinos to a foreign tribunal—a power that R.A. 9851 clearly does not bestow,” she added.
Marcos likewise underscored constitutional due process and national sovereignty, reminding the DOJ that only Philippine courts have the authority to issue arrest warrants.
“No act of cooperation with a foreign entity can supersede this fundamental guarantee of due process and sovereignty,” she said.