Former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's top drug war enforcer said Tuesday he would never surrender to an international court, while pleading for current President Ferdinand Marcos to intervene on his behalf.
Ronald Dela Rosa, a sitting senator and former police chief, has taken refuge in the Senate since narrowly escaping government agents attempting to serve him an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant tied to his role in the bloody drug crackdown during Duterte's presidency.
In a copy of the warrant issued in November but made public only late Monday, Dela Rosa, better known by his nickname "Bato", is accused of the crime against humanity of murder along with Duterte and other co-perpetrators.
"I wish (Marcos) would not send me to The Hague" but to "any court in the Philippines", Dela Rosa told reporters Tuesday as more than 100 riot police stood guard outside the Senate building.
"If I have committed something, I will answer for it here, not in a foreign country. That's my appeal to him."
Dela Rosa's former boss, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila in March last year and flown to the Netherlands that same night. Duterte has been held at the ICC's detention unit at Scheveningen Prison awaiting trial.
Since then, Dela Rosa has frequently condemned the arrest and rendition while stating he believed he was next.
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.
The true number of killings during his campaign in the Philippines is thought to be in the thousands, and lawyers for the victims have argued that a full trial could encourage more families to come forward.
In a statement Tuesday, a Marcos spokeswoman said the president would "not interfere in the decisions of the Senate", while declining to discuss the details of the warrant against Dela Rosa.
"Everything that happens in the Senate is within their power," Claire Castro said.
Dela Rosa's defence team, meanwhile, has filed an injunction with the country's Supreme Court, seeking judicial protection from what they called a "coordinated" enforcement strategy against him.
The senator had not been seen publicly since November before emerging on Monday to take part in an unexpected vote that helped Duterte loyalists capture control of the Senate.
Video released by the legislative body showed Dela Rosa being chased through the halls of the upper chamber by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officers.
Tuesday, NBI director Melvin Matibag told reporters Dela Rosa had travelled to the Senate in the car of a fellow lawmaker, then bolted when approached by two agents attempting to serve a warrant.
He also denied that Dela Rosa had been "tackled and wrestled", saying the senator had tripped on the stairs while being pursued.
"He was literally avoiding arrest," Matibag said. "I was asked why there was a chase. I said he ran, that's why we chased him."
Newly elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters on Monday that Dela Rosa was under the Senate's protection.
"We will allow an arrest under the condition that it is a Philippine court," Cayetano said.
Asked Tuesday if he would submit to an arrest warrant by a local court, Dela Rosa said: "We will cross the bridge when we get there."
