Bato says P50-million bounty puts life at risk, asks Supreme Court to block arrest

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa has asked the Supreme Court (SC) anew to stop his arrest, saying the P50-million bounty for his capture and his designation as "armed and dangerous" put his life in "serious danger."

In a 15-page manifestation filed with the high court, Dela Rosa, through lawyer Israelito Torreon, asked the SC to reverse its May 2026 denial of his request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) or status quo ante order against the implementation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

Torreon cited recent developments that he said warranted the issuance of a TRO, including the P50-million bounty announced by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on October 23 and the police's declaration that the senator was "armed and dangerous."

The government also gave Dela Rosa until Thursday, October 29, to surrender.

The manifestation cited Remulla's announcement that authorities were abandoning their previous approach of negotiation, as well as Malacañang's statement that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had directed law enforcement agencies to act swiftly to capture the senator.

"Taken together, these are not stray remarks of individual officials. They constitute an announced executive enforcement program all directed at the arrest of a sitting senator of the Republic for surrender to a foreign tribunal, while the legality of that very act is pending before this Honorable Court," the manifestation read.

Dela Rosa said the bounty and the government's actions placed his right to life at risk, particularly amid the possibility of armed resistance during his arrest.

He also asked the SC to stop authorities from surrendering him to the ICC, which issued an arrest warrant against him in November 2025 over alleged crimes against humanity linked to former president Rodrigo Duterte's drug war.

Palace press officer Claire Castro on Tuesday defended the P50-million bounty, clarifying that the money would come from the Department of the Interior and Local Government's intelligence and confidential funds, not from Marcos.

Castro said the DILG and the Philippine National Police have their own mandates and funding for operations, adding that the reward was intended to speed up Dela Rosa's capture.

She said the deadline was meant to give the senator an opportunity to surrender without police intervention. However, she warned that authorities would hunt him down if he refused to cooperate.

Dela Rosa has been in hiding since May, when authorities attempted to serve the ICC warrant against him. He emerged from hiding on May 11 and took refuge inside the Senate building but left days later following a standoff between security guards and investigators attempting to arrest him. Shots were fired during the incident.

In May, the SC denied Dela Rosa's request for a TRO or status quo ante order in a 9-5-1 vote, ruling that he had "no clear and unmistakable right to be protected."

The high court has yet to rule on his petition challenging the legality of the ICC warrant.

ICC prosecutors have named Dela Rosa as one of eight alleged co-perpetrators in the drug crackdown, which killed thousands of suspected drug offenders during Duterte's presidency from 2016 to 2022.

Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, 2025, and transferred to the ICC the following day. He remains detained at the ICC detention center in The Hague, the Netherlands, and is scheduled to stand trial on Nov. 30, 2026, on charges of crimes against humanity of murder. — with a report from Alyana Uy

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