Several Facebook posts falsely quoted Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo as saying that the arrest warrant allegedly issued by the International Criminal Court for Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa cannot be immediately enforced. This is fake and has been debunked by the Supreme Court.
The earliest copy of the fake statement that VERA Files has tracked was published on Nov. 8, bearing a photo of Gesmundo and a superimposed text that read:
“Hindi nila pwede i take effect agad ang arrest warrant (They cannot immediately enforce the arrest warrant)
SC CHIEF JUSTICE”
Its caption further claimed:
“Nag labas ng kautusan ang supreme court na hindi maaari basta basta i implement ang arrest warrant kay sen. Bato dahil kailangan umano itong dumaan muna sa proseso, kailangan umano itong desisyunan muna ng kataas taasang hukuman ng pilipinas
‘ hindi maaring ulitin ang ginawa kay PRRD duon sa arrest warrant nya sa ICC dahil nung mga panahong un hindi pa namin naipasa ang batas na matibay patungkol dito, sa ngaun meron dapat sundin ang pag papatupad bg arrest warrant ng ibang bansa ito ay dapat munang dinggin ng supreme court dahil ang ating hukuman ang syang may unang karapatan na umusig sa kapwa natin pilipino, ibig po sabihin nyan kahit may arrest warrant ng nailabas dadaan padin muna ang pag uusig sa supreme court, ito ay upang bigyan galang ang atibg kataas taasang hukuman dito sa bansa. Dahil kung yan ay ating papayagan lalabas na sakop na ng ICC ang ating judicial system dito sa bansa, lalabas na mas nakatataas pa sila saating supre court dahil wala man lang silang sulat or pasintabi saating pinaka mataas na hukuman”
(The Supreme Court has issued an order stating that the arrest warrant on Sen. Bato cannot be implemented immediately because it must first go through due process and decided by the highest court of the Philippines.
‘What happened with former president Rodrigo Duterte’s ICC arrest warrant cannot be repeated because at that time, we had not yet passed a strong law regarding this matter. Now, there are procedures that must be followed in enforcing arrest warrants issued by other countries. The Supreme Court must first hear the case because our judiciary has the primary authority to prosecute our fellow Filipinos. This means that even if an arrest warrant has been issued, the process must still go through the Supreme Court. This is to show respect for our country’s highest judicial body. Allowing it otherwise would imply that the ICC has authority over our judicial system, that it stands higher than our Supreme Court since it did not even provide notice or coordination with our High Court.’)
In a Nov. 9 statement, SC spokesperson Camille Ting said the Chief Justice has not issued any statement about an arrest warrant for Dela Rosa, noting that the online posts carrying the quote attributed to Gesmundo are “false.”
In a separate Nov. 10 advisory, the SC tagged the circulating statement as “fake and deceptive.”
The High Tribunal advised the public to get accurate and verified information about statements of its members only from its official website and social media accounts.
No orders or any issuances can be found on the Court’s official website that specifically require the supposed ICC arrest warrant for Dela Rosa to be reviewed and decided by the SC before implementation, contrary to what the FB posts claimed.
Bato’s rumored ICC arrest warrant
The fabricated quote surfaced on the same day Ombudsman Crispin “Boying” Remulla announced in a Nov. 8 DZRH interview that the ICC has already issued a warrant of arrest against Dela Rosa in connection with the war on drugs during the Duterte administration.
ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said on Nov. 10 that the international tribunal cannot confirm such news, noting “ICC news can be found only on ICC official communications channels and press releases, where you could see that only one case to date has been opened, against Mr. Duterte.”
Chief State Counsel of the Justice department, Dennis Chan, in a Nov. 11 press conference, also said they “have not seen nor received any copy of this ICC warrant of arrest.”
But if ICC issues it, Chan noted that the Philippine government has both extradition and surrender options under the Republic Act No. 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and other Crimes Against Humanity.
“At this point in time, the State is seriously studying all options available to it. We are not closing the door on extradition or surrender per se,” the Chief State Counsel said.
Published by an FB user and two pages MD TV Channel (created on Feb. 9, 2020 as Dm Band PANS/ Joshua M.) and Political Media (Apr. 2, 2025), the bogus posts have collectively garnered 23,600 reactions, 8,500 comments and 3,274 shares.
