Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said he has no information on whether Senator Bato dela Rosa’s supposed International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrant is indeed already in the Philippines. 

But Remulla said on Saturday, May 9, that they were preparing, just in case. He even formed a 10,000-strong police task force to implement the ICC warrant if ever.

This was in light of recent buzz that the supposed ICC warrant had already been transmitted to Philippine authorities for implementation. 

On Sunday, May 10, the DILG chief also announced that there already is a subpoena against Duterte’s former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief who first implemented the war on drugs. 

But what for?

For ‘investigation’

Based on the copy of the subpoena obtained by Rappler, the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is summoning Dela Rosa for an investigation about the “facts and circumstances” related to alleged extrajudicial killings in the Davao Region. He was invited to appear before the CIDG on Thursday, May 14, at 10 am.

This was based on the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearings, which investigated former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, and revelations of self-confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) member Arturo Lascañas.

Remulla responded with a “yes” to Rappler when asked if the complaint against Dela Rosa is for crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa was a Davao City police chief under Duterte before becoming PNP chief. The CIDG said the subpoena for the former PNP chief is intended to “clarify matters, execute a sworn statement/affidavit, submit documents and/or other relevant information.”

Based on a police report seen by Rappler, CIDG personnel served the subpoena at Dela Rosa’s address in Barangay Matina Crossing, Davao City, on Monday at around 8 am.

“Reasonable efforts were made to personally serve the subpoena to the subject; however, Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa was not present at the residence at the time of service,” said the report.

The CIDG, however, was able to serve the subpoena through substituted service, according to the police, by leaving a copy to the caretaker of Dela Rosa’s house. The police said the said caretaker voluntarily received and acknowledged the subpoena’s receipt “in the presence of the barangay witnesses but refused to sign his name on the document.”

At the Senate, where Dela Rosa has not been seen for months, the CIDG also served their subpoena. But Dela Rosa’s office refused to receive it, arguing that there was no instruction from the senator to accept it.

“We will see if we can produce evidence. All stations initially investigated scrubbed their files,” DILG’s Remulla told Rappler. “That is why it was impossible to find justice. The DOJ (Department of Justice) would investigate but all records in the major areas like Bulacan, Davao, NCR (National Capital Region) were wiped clean.”

Dela Rosa’s alleged role in killings

During a Senate hearing in 2017, Lascañas said he knew Dela Rosa as a police officer in Davao, as a former member of the Davao City police office’s heinous crimes division.

Lascañas was among the first witnesses to reveal that Duterte ordered police, allegedly doubling as DDS members, to kill suspects and Duterte’s political and personal enemies.

Apart from alleged connection to the killings, Lascañas also said in his ICC affidavit that Dela Rosa — and another Duterte ally, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano — allegedly prepared witnesses for the Senate probe into the DDS killings. The two allegedly reminded DDS gunmen to stay loyal to the former president.

In 2026 — a year after Duterte’s arrest — the ICC prosecution released the names of eight people, including Dela Rosa, who are tagged as indirect co-perpetrators in the former president’s crimes against humanity case. (READ: ICC names Dela Rosa, Bong Go, Aguirre among 8 of Duterte’s co-perpetrators)

According to the ICC document, Duterte, Dela Rosa, and other co-perpetrators allegedly shared “a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes, including murder (‘Common Plan’).”

Duterte’s crimes against humanity case covers 49 incidents of killings, with 78 victims, covering both war on drugs and DDS killings.

Before Duterte’s arrest, the House under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. launched the quad committee in 2024 to probe into the alleged killings. The quad committee, in December 2024, recommended that Duterte, Dela Rosa, and others should be charged for crimes against humanity.

Remulla told Rappler that this was the CIDG’s basis for their subpoena.

Is this for ICC?

Dela Rosa has been out of the public eye for now — ever since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said in November 2025 that the ICC had already issued a warrant against him.

The ICC said on Saturday that there is no “public warrant” in the Philippines, but this doesn’t mean there is no warrant against Dela Rosa. There have been cases where warrants remained confidential or under seal until their implementation, like what happened to Duterte.

There were also cases where warrants were out in the open, such as in the ICC cases of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Whether warrants would be private or public depends on the ICC’s discretion.

A high-level source has told Rappler that a warrant exists, but it has yet to be transmitted to Philippine authorities.

DILG’s Remulla told Rappler on Saturday that Dela Rosa is in the Davao Region. Another source said the senator is somewhere in Mindanao.

Although the DILG chief said their subpoena is not tied to the ICC probe, this move can actually benefit the ICC proceedings.

If Dela Rosa appears before the CIDG, this could be used by other authorities to implement the supposed warrant against him. – with a report from Patrick Cruz/Rappler.com