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Philippines Senator Flees Federal Agents Serving ICC Arrest Warrant

HeadlineMay 12, 2026
Image Credit: Senate of Philippines

In the Philippines, a senator who once presided over former President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent drug war fled federal agents on Monday as they attempted to serve him an international arrest warrant outside the Philippine Senate. Surveillance cameras caught the dramatic scene as 64-year-old Senator Ronald dela Rosa dashed up stairs and raced along hallways before arriving at the Senate chamber, where the officers have no power to arrest him. He slept at the Senate office overnight and has since refused to leave, vowing to fight extradition to The Hague to face charges at the International Criminal Court. Dela Rosa served as police chief under Duterte between 2016 and 2018, when thousands of alleged drug dealers were shot and killed. A spokesperson for the ICC laid out the charges against him on Monday.

Oriane Maillet: “The judges assessed the material submitted by the prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. dela Rosa is allegedly criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder.”

Meanwhile, the Philippine House of Representatives voted Monday to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte over bribery and corruption charges. She’s the daughter of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who’s jailed at The Hague awaiting trial at the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity. It’s the second time Sara Duterte has been impeached, but she appears unlikely to be removed from office, after her allies on Monday took control of the Senate.

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