Bato Dela Rosa claims he was promised ICC ‘won’t touch a hair’ on him

PHOTO: OfficialFacebook page of Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa

MANILA, Philippines — Sen.  Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Thursday claimed he was promised that not even a strand of his hair would by be touched by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to Dela Rosa, this promise was made to him and former President Rodrigo Duterte by none other than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos during a conversation in Malacañang.

Duterte and his then-top cop, Dela Rosa, are facing allegations of crimes against humanity before the ICC  in connection with the administration’s drug war campaign that left thousands of people killed.

The former president has already been arrested by local authorities at the request of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and is now under the ICC custody in the Hague, Netherlands.

READ: Dela Rosa hits Marcos’ ‘betrayal to the max’ after Duterte’s arrest

“I am truly saddened. I am saddened not only for myself, not only for President Duterte, but I am also saddened for the entire Filipino people, for the entire Filipino nation, that we have a president who does not keep his word,” Dela Rosa said over a DZBB interview on  Thursday.

“I was expecting that if you’re the chief executive, you should stand by your word. But right now, we feel betrayed because he personally told me at Malacañang that ‘not even a hair of yours would be touched by the ICC,’” he said.

Dela Rosa lamented that he was made to believe that Marcos would not cooperate with the ICC.

“What happened right now is that what was said is different from what was done. That’s why I am saddened for the Filipino people for having a leader like him,” the senator further said.

READ: Marcos: Arrest of Duterte not ‘political persecution’

But Marcos has already clarified that Duterte’s arrest complied with the Philippines’ commitments with Interpol and not because the ICC requested it.

The Philippines is no longer part of the ICC since 2019, when it started investigating the alleged abuses committed in implementing the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

Government data pegged the number of people killed in the drug war at  6,000, but human rights watchdogs estimated the death toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019 alone.

“It’s very simple; it’s a request to the Philippine government from Interpol to enforce the arrest warrant. And of course, we comply with our commitments to Interpol,” Marcos explained at a briefing in Malacanang after Duterte’s arrest.

“We did not do this because it was derived from or it came from the ICC; we did this because Interpol asked us to do it, and we have commitments to them, and we live up to those commitments,”  he pointed out.

READ: The fall of ‘The Punisher’: Rodrigo Duterte’s path to the ICC

Reacting to  Marcos’ explanation, Dela Rosa repeatedly said: “Tell it to the marines. Tell it to the  marines.”

“How can they make me believe that? We have a saying that the water cannot rise above its source. What is the source of authority of Interpol? It’s the ICC warrant. So, what is their basis now? The ICC warrant.,” he pointed out.

According to Dela Rosa, Marcos should have not assisted the Interpol  if indeed  he does not recognize the ICC.

“That’s a very lame excuse,” the senator continued. “You know, we’re not in first grade  to be given such an explanation..”