At least four Facebook users are spreading a claim that a Supreme Court ruling has “officially stopped any attempt to arrest or surrender” Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to the International Criminal Court. This is not true.
The FB posts, first published on May 22 as a reel, resurfaced on June 20 when an FB user reposted it. The post, which includes a lengthy caption explaining the ruling, reads:
“FINALLY — THE SUPREME COURT SPOKE, AND THE TRUTH PREVAILED!🇵🇭⚖️
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court officially stopped any attempt to arrest or surrender Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to the ICC or any foreign authority. The Court clearly stated: ‘There is no domestic law authorizing this; surrendering him would bypass our Constitution and our safeguards.”
The user further explained that this is a victory for every Filipino and that the ICC has no authority over the Philippines because the country withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, rendering any of its orders without domestic effect.
It also emphasized that the Philippines is a sovereign and independent nation with its own long-standing legal and judicial system, and that no one, not even the president, has the power to surrender Filipinos abroad.
Another FB user reposted the same caption 13 hours later on a pro-Duterte FB group, and a second user did so the next day, this time with a photo of Bato and another man in military uniform walking along the shore.
The posts are wrong.
On May 20, the High Court, by a vote of 9–5–1, denied Dela Rosa’s plea for a Temporary Restraining Order to stop his arrest through the ICC warrant.
The official ruling released on May 25 stated that Dela Rosa failed to establish a clear legal right or demonstrate an urgent necessity for temporary protection from law enforcement and that the application for a temporary restraining order has “absolutely no merit.”
The High Court explicitly clarified in a press briefing on May 20 that it has not yet made a decision on the main petition regarding the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines. The court only ruled on the immediate request for a TRO.
The line used in the false post claiming that “there is no domestic judicial process authorizing the arrest or surrender” was misinterpreted. It actually comes from a separate dissenting opinion of Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, who was among the five justices in the minority that were overruled by the nine-justice majority.
Dela Rosa remains in hiding and is currently the subject of an active nationwide manhunt by Philippine authorities.
This false post resurfaced after the June 15 news that the PNP revoked Dela Rosa’s gun permits and seized 20 of his firearms in Davao City after he was declared a fugitive.
VERA Files fact checked similar claims on June 1.
Published by FB users, the false reposted posts have so far collectively garnered 10,353 reactions; 2,293 comments; 4,789 shares.
