Dela Rosa makes first Senate appearance since Duterte arrest

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa talks to Sen. Imee Marcos prior to attending a hearing on former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest on Thursday. Photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald dela Rosa attended the Senate committee on foreign relations’ second hearing on the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday.

This is Dela Rosa’s first appearance in the Senate since the former chief executive was arrested on March 11.

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Before the hearing, Dela Rosa was seen talking to committee chair Sen. Imee Marcos and Senate President Francis Escudero.

Dela Rosa, who served under Duterte as Philippine National Police chief, issued Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016 that became the basis for the PNP’s Project Double Barrel, which started Duterte’s war on illegal drugs. This role landed him on the roster of Duterte administration officials who were accused of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with the deaths of thousands of people in the drug war.

Based on official government data, the former chief executive’s war on drugs left at least 6,000 people dead. But watchdogs and the ICC prosecutor estimated the death toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019, many of which are alleged to be extrajudicial killings.

On March 11, Duterte was served an arrest warrant by the ICC and brought to The Hague, Netherlands. He attended his pre-trial hearing at the ICC via video call on March 14. The ICC has set a hearing on the confirmation of charges against him on Sept. 23.

In previous interviews, Dela Rosa maintained that he would not surrender to authorities and may go into hiding should the ICC issue an order for his arrest.