Posts twist Philippine Supreme Court decision on fugitive senator's arrest
- Published on June 4, 2026 at 11:26
- 2 min read
- By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
The Philippine Supreme Court denied a senator's bid to stop the International Criminal Court (ICC) from arresting him over his role in the nation's brutal drug war, contrary to claims spreading among his supporters online that his request was granted. A review of the false posts found they misrepresented the opinion of one Supreme Court judge who disagreed with the majority ruling.
"Supreme Court stops Senator Ronald Bato Dela Rosa's arrest," reads Tagalog text overlaid on a TikTok video shared on May 26, 2026.
It features images of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa -- popularly known by his nickname "Bato" -- and Supreme Court Justice Ramon Hernando (archived link).
"This is legit," says the TikTok user, who can be seen celebrating and reading text attributed to Hernando saying Dela Rosa was "in danger of being immediately transported to a foreign tribunal without the safeguards of the Philippine Constitution".
Dela Rosa -- the former national police chief who enforced ex-president Rodrigo Duterte's anti-narcotics crackdown -- is wanted by the ICC on charges of being a "co-perpetrator" of the crime against humanity of murder (archived link).
Duterte was arrested March 2025 and is awaiting trial in The Hague on charges stemming from his drug war, which left tens of thousands of people dead, according to human rights monitors.
Government agents tried to arrest Dela Rosa on May 11, but the pro-Duterte Senate leadership foiled the attempt and gave him sanctuary following a dramatic chase up the stairs.
The senator is on the run following a shooting incident between government agents and Senate security personnel on May 13.
Similar false claims that the Supreme Court issued an order preventing the ICC from arresting Dela Rosa were shared elsewhere on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Threads, with the posts racking up more than 200,000 combined views.
Dissenting opinion
The senator had asked the court to prevent authorities from implementing the ICC arrest warrant without a corresponding warrant issued by a local court (archived link).
However, official records indicate nine of the tribunal's 15 judges formed a majority and voted to deny Dela Rosa's petition (archived link).
"Senator Ronald Dela Rosa's application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order or a status quo ante order is DENIED for lack of merit," reads the Supreme Court's decision dated May 20 (archived link).
The court posted a complete copy of the decision on its website, including separate opinions from justices who agreed or disagreed with the ruling.
Dela Rosa's lawyer Israelito Torreon said his legal team will "exhaust every remedy available under law".
A keyword search of the text used in the false posts found they were lifted from the dissenting opinion of Justice Ramon Hernando, one of the five judges who disagreed with the majority vote. One judge was on leave.
Dissenting opinions are not binding, but are sometimes published alongside rulings to preserve minority viewpoints on contested legal issues (archived link).
AFP has debunked more misinformation spawned by the attempted arrest of Dela Rosa.
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