FFPS Welcomes News That ICC Will Arrest Duterte’s Police Chief And Long-time US Counterinsurgency Operative

Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) joins the Filipino people in welcoming the reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa due to his role in the killings of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called ‘War on Drugs’.

Dela Rosa was the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during Duterte’s presidency and had previously served as Davao City police chief when the former President was the city’s mayor. As head of the PNP, he was architect of many of the brutal policies that lead to over 30,000 deaths, according to figures from Philippine human rights organizations such as Karapatan. Dela Rosa also has a long track record of coordinating campaigns of mass killings and extrajudicial violence that predate Duterte’s presidency, dating back to the US-directed anti-communist counterinsurgency campaigns of the post-Martial Law period.

As a junior lieutenant in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) stationed in Davao City in 1986, Dela Rosa was the handler of the armed anti-Communist paramilitary group and cult, the Holy Christian Crusaders, known as the ‘Tadtad’ (Filipino for ‘Chop Chop) for their practice of chopping the heads off of their victims. The Tadtads and other armed anti-communist vigilante groups were provided arms and support by the military, through handlers like Dela Rosa, and were notorious for grace human rights abuses and atrocities.

Rather than being ashamed of his role in these abuses, Dela Rosa still proudly boasts of his role directing the Tadtads. In 2020, shortly after the passing of the Anti-Terror Law by the US-Duterte regime, Dela Rosa promoted his Anti-Communist credentials by posting an edited clip from the 1988 documentary film ‘A Rustling of the Leaves: Inside the Philippine Revolution’ (Dir. Nettie Wild). In this clip he shows his full awareness of a recent massacre committed by the Tadtads.

Anti-communist counterinsurgency operations in the Philippines are patterned after the US Counterinsurgency Guide and have been both directly and indirectly backed by the US. These operations have persisted from the post-Martial Law period through the US-backed Duterte regime and Dela Rosa, and continue to this day under the US-aligned Marcos Jr. administration.

For our full statement, please read on through our website: https://ffps.info/2025/11/12/support-the-filipino-people-in-demanding-justice-for-the-crimes-of-dutertes-police-chief-bato-dela-rosa-long-time-us-counterinsurgency-operative-strengthen-international-solidarity-against/

Signed: Robert Reid | Global Chair FFPS

About Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS):

Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) / Friends of the National Democratic Front (FNDF) is a global organization that supports the Filipino people’s struggle for genuine national liberation as outlined in the 12 point program of the NDF. For more information, visit https://ffps.info.

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