The Supreme Court (SC) denied on Wednesday the petition of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and status quo ante order on his arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The high court voted "9-5-1" to deny Dela Rosa's prayer for TRO or status quo ante order.

The petition was filed by Dela Rosa and former President Rodrigo Duterte a day after the latter was arrested and brought to The Hague on March 11, 2025 where he is facing charges of committing crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa, who left the protection of the Senate few hours after a shooting incident on May 13, filed a separate petition for TRO last May 11 seeking to invalidate an arrest warrant from ICC which alleged his involvement in the crimes against humanity. This was not ruled upon by the High Tribunal.

"The SC only decided on the prayers for interim relief. The main issues raised by the parties in their pleadings and motions are yet to be resolved in the main case," the court said in its statement after a morning session.

But the Palace said the ruling meant that the ICC arrest warrant is valid. '' For now, we can say that the warrant of arrest is valid against Senator Bato dela Rosa,'' said Palace Press Officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro in a brief statement.

''All the interpretations and evaluations of this resolution, we will leave it up to (Justice) Secretary Frederick (sic) Vida,'' she added.

But Dela Rosa's lawyer, Israelito Torreon, said in a statement: ''It is not a final ruling on the legality of enforcing an ICC process within Philippine territory. It is not a final ruling on the constitutional limits of executive cooperation with a foreign tribunal. It is not a final ruling on whether a Philippine citizen may be arrested, detained, transferred, surrendered or removed from Philippine jurisdiction without prior judicial process under Philippine law.''

According to the SC, Dela Rosa "prayed for a TRO and/or SQAO to prevent the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Immigration, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group from arresting him on the basis of any warrant from the International Criminal Court, red notice and diffusion from the International Criminal Police Organization, or any foreign judicial or quasi-judicial instrument without a Philippine judicial warrant."

It can be recalled that even before the ICC confirmed the warrant of arrest against Dela Rosa last May 11, 2026, his camp had filed the petition before the SC last November 2025.

The ICC unsealed and confirmed Dela Rosa's arrest when he appeared at the Upper Chamber after his months of absence to unseat former Senate President Vicente Sotto III who was replaced by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. Robina Asido/PHS