Senator Robinhood Padilla has advised Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa not to yield to foreign authority amid reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest against him.
Padilla, a member of the Senate Minority bloc, said they have had no contact with Dela Rosa, whom he believes is exercising caution.
“He’s careful; he was a former soldier and policeman. He knows our mobile phones could be monitored,” Padilla told reporters.
“My advice to him is: never surrender to foreign power,” he added, clarifying, “No offense to the ICC.”
Dela Rosa had been charged with crimes against humanity before the ICC having been the chief implementer of then President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war against illegal drugs.
Duterte, whose campaign against illegal drugs had resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug suspects, was arrested by the ICC earlier this year for the same charge and had been detained in the Netherlands since March.
Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, has been absent in the Senate since Nov. 10 when Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla claimed that the ICC has already issued an arrest warrant against the senator. (Hannah Torregoza)
