A former spokesman for Rodrigo Duterte has claimed that the International Criminal Court is preparing to arrest two of the ex-Philippine leader’s closest allies over his administration’s bloody war on drugs.
Harry Roque told This Week in Asia that President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr intended to use such arrests to “destroy the [political] opposition”, arguing that clearing Duterte-allied senators from the chamber would secure the votes Marcos needed to oust Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio – his political rival and the former president’s daughter – and build momentum for amendments to the 1987 constitution.
Roque, now an international human rights lawyer based in The Hague, said in a social media post on Monday that a warrant had already been issued for Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the former national police chief who led the drug crackdown. He also claimed Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s long-time aide, would “also be sent to The Hague”.
Both men played central roles in Duterte’s campaign, which targeted alleged drug offenders and drew international condemnation over thousands of extrajudicial killings. The ICC has charged Duterte with crimes against humanity, with rights groups estimating that several thousand to more than 20,000 people were killed during the 2016–2022 crackdown.
The ICC authorised a formal investigation into the Philippines’ drug-war killings in 2021, and in March Philippine authorities arrested Duterte under an ICC warrant and surrendered him to the court.
He remains in detention, awaiting a confirmation of charges hearing – a pre-trial stage in which judges decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. That hearing, originally scheduled for September 23, was postponed after the court raised concerns about his fitness to stand trial.
Although the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019, the court maintains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the country was still a member.