MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) denied on Wednesday, May 20 Senator Bato dela Rosa‘s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest.

“The SC only decided on the prayers for interim relief. The main issues raised by the parties in their pleadings and motions are yet to be resolved in the main case,” the High Court said.

The SC justices voted 9-5-1 to deny Dela Rosa’s prayer for a TRO.

The question now, however, is whether the Marcos administration will take this TRO denial as a cue to arrest Dela Rosa or will wait for all issues to be resolved before making a move.

A denial on the merits would have cleared the roadblock on implementing the ICC warrant that stems from Dela Rosa’s crimes against humanity case.

The ICC pre-trial chamber had found reasonable grounds that Dela Rosa, a former Davao City police chief and Philippine National Police chief, was criminally liable for the alleged killings under the Davao Death Squad as well as former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

On May 15, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would only act on Dela Rosa’s warrant after all legal issues have been resolved by the SC.

Even before the ICC unsealed and confirmed its warrant on May 11, Dela Rosa already filed a TRO request with the SC in November 2025 to block his potential arrest. He went into hiding for six months and only reappeared at the Senate on May 11 to back the coup that installed Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President.

Two days later, on May 13, the SC issued a resolution on Dela Rosa’s petition, asking the parties to file their respective comments within 72 hours. The High Court, at that time, did not provide immediate relief for Dela Rosa because it withheld issuing a TRO.

Will Marcos get Bato arrested? Unclear as his secretaries’ words.

Chaos ensued in the Senate on the same night after Dela Rosa’s mistah, Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca, fired shots inside the building. Dela Rosa escaped from the Senate compound hours later, at around 2:30 am, on May 14. Aplasca has since been preventively suspended by the Ombudsman for six months over the shooting incident.

As of writing, Dela Rosa is still in hiding, evading his ICC warrant.

Will Marcos lift a finger?

Asked if the Marcos administration would implement the ICC warrant now, Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the DOJ is the designated agency to respond to such queries.

“Masasabi po natin ang warrant of arrest ay valid laban dito kay Senator Bato dela Rosa (What we can say is that the warrant of arrest against Senator Bato dela Rosa is valid),” said Castro.

But will the Marcos administration enforce Republic Act No. 9851, the law that allows the government to surrender suspects to international courts?

“Lahat ng operational matters, ibibigay po natin kay Justice Secretary (Fredderick) Vida (All operational matters are directed to Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida),” Castro said.

The DOJ has yet to respond to reporters’ questions as of this posting.

Department of the Interior and Local Government chief Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla, who oversees the national police, also said the DOJ is the lead agency for the operation. – Rappler.com