DOJ Places Senator Bato dela Rosa Under Immigration Lookout Order Due to ICC Arrest Warrant

The Department of Justice announced on May 15, 2026 that Senator Ronald 'Bato' dela Rosa has been placed under the Bureau of Immigration’s lookout order. Acting DOJ chief Vida said the basis for the immigration lookout bulletin order, or ILBO, was an International Criminal Court warrant against the senator for crimes against humanity.

The Philippine government, through the Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes, had already received the ICC warrant.

An immigration lookout bulletin order is used to monitor a person’s movements. It cannot prevent people from leaving the country. Only a precautionary hold departure order and a hold departure order issued by courts can do that.

Dela Rosa showed up at the Senate on May 11, 2026 after months of absence. He escaped from the premises of the upper chamber in the early hours of May 14, 2026. “There are information available to us to determine where he is,” Vida said during a briefing on May 15.

The former Philippine National Police chief is the first person ordered arrested by the ICC after he was found allegedly criminally liable for crimes against humanity. The ICC said that Dela Rosa allegedly enabled ‘DDS killings’ and conceived and implemented a style of police operations referred to as ‘Tokhang’ in Davao City.

Senator Bato dela Rosa was the first to implement former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.

Rappler reported that the acting DOJ chief confirmed receipt of the warrant and the limited scope of the lookout order during Friday’s briefing. The senator’s brief reappearance at the Senate and subsequent departure occurred days before the DOJ publicly disclosed the ILBO. The International Criminal Court ordered the arrest of Senator Bato dela Rosa.

Vida’s statements on May 15 provided the first official confirmation that Philippine authorities possessed the ICC document and had acted on it with the Bureau of Immigration.