Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa, the former chief of police during the administration of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, yesterday urged the military to stop Philippine government attempts to arrest and fly him to the Netherlands to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
Dela Rosa began his third day holed up at the Philippine Senate building after its leadership stopped government efforts to serve an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his role in Duterte’s efforts to combat the drugs trade.
Dela Rosa is accused of the crime against humanity of murder along with Duterte and others.
Photo: AP
“I am not appealing for violent support. I am appealing for peaceful support,” Dela Rosa told reporters, adding later that his arrest was “imminent.”
He urged “my fellow men in uniform” and former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, which produces most of the armed forces’ officer corps, to “express their sentiment” that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s government “should not hand me over to foreigners.”
Outside the Senate, about 500 riot police faced off with about 250 protesters demanding the arrest and handover to the ICC of a person they described as the “architect” of Duterte’s drug war.
The crackdown left thousands dead, human rights monitors say.
Dela Rosa was police chief from 2016 to 2018, during Duterte’s first two years in office.
Duterte was arrested in March last year, flown to the Netherlands on the same day and is detained in The Hague where he awaits trial.
Dela Rosa had not been seen publicly since November last year before emerging on Monday to take part in an unexpected vote that helped Duterte loyalists capture control of the Senate.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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