MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald dela Rosa on Monday asked the Supreme Court to immediately stop any attempt to arrest or surrender him to the International Criminal Court (ICC), warning that government actions underway could lead to his transfer to The Hague even without a Philippine court warrant.
In an urgent manifestation and omnibus motion filed through the law firm of Torreon & Partners, Dela Rosa’s camp sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order and writ of preliminary injunction against what it described as a “coordinated enforcement” operation tied to a reported ICC arrest warrant.
The petition came hours after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV publicly displayed what he claimed was a copy of an ICC warrant against Dela Rosa at the Senate.
“Our prayer before the Supreme Court is direct,” the law firm said in a statement. “We sought again the immediate issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction prohibiting any arrest, detention, turnover, transfer, rendition, or surrender of Senator Dela Rosa without a valid Philippine judicial warrant.”
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The camp also questioned the timing of a subpoena issued earlier Monday by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, claiming it was being used as a mechanism to place the senator within government custody while authorities awaited possible international enforcement action.
“A subpoena cannot be used as a convenient pretext to physically bring a person to Camp Crame while the Government awaits a possible international warrant or notice,” the lawyers said. “That is not legitimate law enforcement. It is a surrogate arrest mechanism.”