Published May 18, 2026 2:49pm + Add GMA on Google Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google. Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s camp on Monday denied that he is a fugitive from justice after he left the premises of the Senate last week, saying the characterization is “baseless and unfair.”“There is no Philippine court-issued warrant against him, no local criminal case requiring his arrest, and no final judicial directive from any Philippine court ordering his surrender to the ICC (International Criminal Court),” lawyer Israelito Torreon said in a Facebook post.“What is being questioned before the Supreme Court is precisely the legality of enforcing an ICC process inside Philippine territory without Philippine judicial authority,” he added.He issued the remark after the Office of the Solicitor (OSG) asked the SC to deny Dela Rosa’s plea against the ICC warrant. It said that the “fugitive disentitlement should also apply to him.”Dela Rosa is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant for “alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator” in the crimes against humanity of murder from July 3, 2016, until the end of April 2018, wherein at least 32 persons died.According to Torreon, the OSG’s comment does not answer the central constitutional issue. Their camp is expected to file its response to the OSG’s comment within the day. Dela Rosa has until tomorrow to file his reply.Meanwhile, Torreon said he cannot comment on Dela Rosa’s current location."We can say is that Senator Dela Rosa has continuously sought relief from the Supreme Court and has not abandoned legal remedies. Invoking the protection of the Constitution cannot be twisted into evidence of guilt or flight," Torreon said. — RSJ, GMA News