Philippines top court rejects bid to block arrest of senator wanted by ICC

Senator dela Rosa, whose whereabouts are ⁠unknown, is wanted by the ICC for his role in Duterte’s bloody ‘war on drugs’.The Philippine Supreme Court has refused to block the arrest of a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.Senator ⁠Ronald dela Rosa, whose whereabouts are ⁠unknown, is wanted by the court in The Hague for his role in the country’s “war on drugs” during Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016-2022 presidency.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Philippines vows to hand fugitive senator to ICC following shootoutlist 2 of 3Philippines launches VP Duterte impeachment trial amid political divisionlist 3 of 3Security guards face probe after last week’s Philippine Senate shootingend of listHe has denied involvement in illegal killings.“For now, we can say that the warrant of arrest is valid against Senator Bato dela Rosa,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s spokeswoman Claire Castro told reporters on Wednesday.Philippine ⁠authorities last week confirmed they were seeking to arrest dela Rosa, who had argued in a petition to the court that law enforcement had no legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by a foreign ‌court.The interim ruling on Wednesday clears the way for the potential arrest of the senator, the latest turn in a dramatic story that has gripped the Philippines since early last week.Dela Rosa emerged from six months of hiding last week and took refuge at the Senate for several days before fleeing in the early hours of Thursday after a shooting incident between government agents and Senate security personnel that sent senators rushing for cover in their offices.Dela Rosa’s lawyer said in a statement they will exhaust all legal remedies, including filing a motion for reconsideration: “Today’s resolution is not a judgment on the merits. ‌It is not a final ruling on the legality of enforcing an ICC process within Philippine territory.”