Palace on forthcoming ICC warrants: ‘Enforce immediately’
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang wants future warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against other alleged co-perpetrators of former President Rodrigo Duterte promptly enforced by law enforcement agencies to prevent a repeat of the alleged escape of fugitive Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Sunday that the executive branch wants forthcoming ICC warrants to be enforced “immediately,” following Supreme Court decisions and resolutions favoring the government’s position.
“These [ICC arrest warrants] do not need to go through local courts,” Castro said an interview on dzMM, noting that Republic Act No. 9851, or the “Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity,” already laid out the options the government may undertake.
READ: ‘Several’ others to face ICC warrants over Duterte drug war — NBI
Validity of ICC arrest warrants
Section 17 of the law mandates the government’s cooperation, including the surrender of an accused, with international tribunals like the ICC.
Castro noted that the warrants issued by the ICC are valid because the ICC is an international tribunal and not a foreign court of another state.
“The law is clear [on the mandate of the government]. And the government’s stance is that it is not violating any laws [in enforcing the warrants of arrest issued by the ICC],” she added.
READ: DOJ: Dela Rosa ‘a fugitive’; protectors face raps
The Malacañang official urged individuals who may be named respondents in any future arrest warrants issued by the ICC to surrender to authorities and not go into hiding, as Dela Rosa allegedly did.
According to Castro, most of the alleged co-conspirators of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the pending ICC case were former law enforcement officers who should know the law.
“They should know what a warrant of arrest means, right? So, in other words, if there is a warrant of arrest, and there is no TRO (temporary restraining order) from the Supreme Court, they themselves should surrender,” Castro said.
“They used to enforce the law. So they become good examples to Filipinos of the right to do — that when there is a warrant of arrest against them, they should not hide,” she added.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Saturday said the agency received information that “several” other personalities will be issued arrest warrants from the ICC in connection with the drug war of the Duterte administration.
According to Matibag, the NBI follows a protocol in serving the warrant, regardless of the personality and the crimes allegedly committed.
He noted that the NBI was ready to enforce and serve the arrest warrant should it be issued.
“That’s the reason why we don’t want to discuss how it came to be because we don’t want to preempt the personalities that may be issued the warrant,” Matibag said.
“Because we understand, we have information that there are several that will be issued warrants from the ICC,” he added.
READ: ICC names Dela Rosa, Bong Go as co-perpetrators in Duterte drug war
In February, the ICC named Dela Rosa and fellow senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, and other personalities as Duterte’s co-perpetrators in the alleged commission of crimes against humanity for the extrajudicial killings during the antidrug and anticriminal campaigns from 2011 to 2019, when he served as Davao City mayor and later as President.
Duterte has been detained in The Hague, the Netherlands, since March 2025, awaiting trial.
Dela Rosa served as the former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and Davao City police director; meanwhile, Go was Duterte’s former personal aide and special assistant.
Other personalities considered as Duterte’s alleged co-perpetrators in his case before the ICC are the following:
- Former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguire II;
- Vicente Danao, who served as Davao City Police (October 2013-June 2016); PNP counterintelligence chief (July 2016-February 2017); PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deputy director for operations (February 2017-November 2018); and Manila Police district director (November 2018-October 2019);
- Oscar Albayalde, who served as director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) (July 2016-April 2018); chief of the PNP (April 2018-October 2019);
- Dante Gierran, who served as NBI – Davao Region Director (2013–2016); and Director (2016-2020); and
- Isidro Lapeña, who served as chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (2016-2017)
Also named as a co-conspirator was the late Camilo Cascolan, who died on Nov. 24, 2023. He served as finance chief of Davao Region Police Office (2011-2012); chief of the PNP Directorate for Operations (July 2016-April 2018); director of the NCRPO (April-May 2018); chief of staff in the PNP Office of the Chief of Directorial Staff (September 2018-October 2019).
Cascolan briefly served as PNP chief from September to November 2020, when the Philippines was no longer part of the ICC./dl
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