Amnesty International on Thursday called on the Philippines to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, expressing deep concern over reports that he fled the Senate building to evade an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

Amnesty International Philippines Executive Director Ritz Lee Santos III stated, “We are deeply alarmed at the obstruction of justice and chaotic scenes witnessed at the Philippines Senate … It is hugely concerning that fellow Senators and others appear to have assisted him in evading arrest and in delaying the execution of the arrest warrant – effectively facilitating his escape for now.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed on Monday that it issued an arrest warrant against dela Rosa. The senator is charged as an indirect co-perpetrator of the crime against humanity of murder under Article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute stemming from his connection to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

The warrant against dela Rosa was issued confidentially in November 2025. Rumors spread that the ICC was building a case against dela Rosa as well as seven other indirect co-perpetrators of Duterte’s drug war. Following this, dela Rosa disappeared, but he reemerged on Monday to vote in a consequential Senate leadership vote. He fled after spotting federal agents waiting to arrest him and spent several days barricaded in the Senate building. The senator escaped the building after gunfire erupted on Wednesday. No casualties have been reported, and his present whereabouts are unknown.

The senator, who also served previously as a police chief, is considered a close ally of Duterte. The former president was arrested in March 2025 based on an ICC warrant and has had his charges confirmed, thus beginning the formal trial process. Duterte is also accused of crimes against humanity from the war on drugs, during which death squads were allegedly used in the extrajudicial killing of tens of thousands of suspected narcotics dealers and users since 2016, many of whom were children. The specific allegations cited by the arrest warrant are that “Philippines’ law enforcement, sometimes with the assistance of persons who were not part of the police such as non-police assets and paid hitmen, killed no less than 32 persons – alleged criminals, such as alleged thieves, or people allegedly involved in drug-related activities – at various locations in the Philippines.”

Human Rights Watch has praised the ICC case against Duterte, stating, “The ICC case reflects the determination of victims and their families to advance justice against all odds and dangers.”

The Philippines was a signatory to the Rome Statute from November 2011 until March 2019, when its withdrawal took effect. Despite leaving the treaty, the ICC maintains jurisdiction over international crimes committed within the country between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019. The charges against dela Rosa concern his time as the chief of the Philippine National Police from July 2016 to April 2018.