A Facebook reel circulating online claims that the Supreme Court issued an order stopping the arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant. This is false.
In fact, the High Court did the opposite. On May 20, the SC en banc voted 9-5-1 to deny Dela Rosa’s application for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or status quo ante order.
As part of the narration, the video’s publisher starts with:
“Naglabas na ng desisyon ang Supreme Court…
(The Supreme Court has released its decision…)”
The publisher then proceeds to read the text displayed on the graphic, which states verbatim:
“THERE IS NO DOMESTIC JUDICIAL PROCESS AUTHORIZING THE ARREST OR
SURRENDER OF A SENATOR. DELA ROSA; HE IS IN DANGER OF BEING
IMMEDIATELY TRANSPORTED TO A FOREIGN TRIBUNAL WITHOUT THE
SAFEGUARDS OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION.”
The video text and caption conclude:
“Ayon sa Supreme Court, walang legal na proseso sa Pilipinas na nag-aapruba ng
pag-aresto o pagsuko kay Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa sa foreign tribunal. Ibinase ito
sa pahayag ni Justice Ramon Hernando
(According to the Supreme Court, there is no legal process in the Philippines that approves the arrest or surrender of Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to a foreign tribunal. This was based on the statement of Justice Ramon Hernando).”
The official resolution, released May 25, explicitly stated that Dela Rosa’s plea was rejected “for lack of merit” because his camp failed to prove a clear, unmistakable, and existing legal right requiring immediate protection.
The specific paragraph stating that “there is no domestic judicial process authorizing the arrest or surrender” is not an official declaration or ruling by the SC. Instead, it is an excerpt taken from the separate dissenting opinion authored by Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, who was part of the five-member minority outvoted by the nine-justice majority.
In the official majority ruling, the SC rejected the notion that Dela Rosa’s constitutional rights to liberty and due process were being unlawfully invaded. The Court clarified that the right to liberty is not absolute, and that an arrest is not unlawful when executed pursuant to competent legal frameworks governing international cooperation.
The High Tribunal has yet to rule on the main petition filed by Dela Rosa regarding the ICC’s jurisdiction. Its May 20 vote covered only the request for an emergency TRO. The broader constitutional merits regarding the execution of the warrant remain unresolved and pending before the court.
Posted on May 26, this disinformation directly follows a series of high-stake legal escalations involving the ICC’s investigation into the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign. On May 11, armed agents from the National Bureau of Investigation entered the Senate premises to serve an unsealed ICC arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.
As of writing, the FB reel had garnered 39,800 reactions, over 4,500 comments, and 9,500 shares. It is also being cross-posted in multiple FB groups and continues to gain traction.
