The Supreme Court has warned the public against circulating false social media posts claiming that Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo commented on an alleged arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa.
In a statement Sunday, Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting said the post circulating online is untrue.
‘The Chief Justice has not issued any statement on this matter,’ Ting said in a message to reporters.
The posts surfaced after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla claimed in a radio interview that the ICC had issued an arrest warrant for Dela Rosa in connection with the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Neither the Department of Justice (DOJ) nor the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said they had received any notice from Interpol regarding such a warrant.
On Monday, ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said the court could not confirm reports of a warrant against Dela Rosa.
‘No, the ICC can’t confirm such news,’ El Abdallah said, noting that ‘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.’
The case and Dela Rosa’s involvement. Former president Rodrigo Duterte-who had appointed Dela Rosa as chief of the Philippine National Police-was turned over to the ICC on March 11 after returning from Hong Kong.
He faces charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, in connection with thousands of deaths linked to his administration’s anti-drug campaign.
Duterte’s legal team has since filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the government’s cooperation with the ICC. Dela Rosa was named one of the respondents in that case.