THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court unsealed Monday an arrest warrant for a prominent Philippine senator linked to the deadly “war on drugs” overseen by ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, which allegedly involved the extrajudicial killings of suspects.
The warrant, originally issued confidentially in November, charges Ronald Marapon dela Rosa, a former Philippine national police chief and a Duterte ally, with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons" allegedly committed between July 2016 and the end of April 2018.
Duterte, dela Rosa and other police officials have denied authorizing the killings of drug suspects, who, they said, were shot dead after allegedly threatening law enforcers. Duterte openly and repeatedly threatened drug suspects with death while in office.
The warrant said judges decided after studying evidence submitted by prosecutors that dela Rosa "made essential contributions to committing the alleged crime” of murder and listed him as an “indirect co-perpetrator.”
Dela Rosa appeared unexpectedly in the Philippines Senate on Monday after being summoned as part of a new investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings. National Bureau of Investigation officers tried to run after dela Rosa as he entered the Senate, but failed to reach him as he dashed into the plenary hall and sought the protection of fellow senators.
Former Philippines Senator Antonio Trillanes showed the warrant to the media in Manila on Monday, and the ICC confirmed its authenticity.
Dela Rosa once served as the national police chief under Duterte, and was the first to enforce the bloody campaign against illegal drugs that left thousands of mostly petty suspects dead. Philippine police officials have summoned dela Rosa to appear before them for an investigation into his role in the Duterte-era killings.
Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the warrant, calling it “another blow to the wall of impunity protecting those who allegedly committed atrocities during the Philippines’ murderous ‘drug war.'”
She called on Philippine authorities to swiftly detain dela Rosa and send him to the court in The Hague.
Duterte was arrested in March last year and detained in the Netherlands on charges of crimes against humanity. The charges are also linked to deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he ordered while he was in office. He denies the charges, but judges have ruled that there is enough evidence to warrant his standing trial. No date has been set for the case to start and Duterte has skipped several court hearings due to ill health.
The thousands of killings of mostly impoverished drug suspects took place when Duterte was mayor of the southern city of Davao and after he became president in 2016. The killings during police raids alarmed human rights groups and Western governments, led by the United States.
FILE - Policemen check the gun recovered from one of two unidentified drug suspects after they were shot dead by police while trying to evade a checkpoint in Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines, Sept. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
TOMARATA, New Zealand (AP) — Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand became the second player to win back-to-back in the Asia-Pacific Amateur with another Sunday comeback, this time without having to win in a playoff. He closed with a 1-under 70 for a three-shot victory.
That sends Laopakdee back to Augusta National in April for the Masters, along with a return trip to the British Open next summer at St. Andrews.
The 21-year-old Thai said he exchanged phone numbers at the last Masters with Justin Rose, who promised him a practice round if Laopakdee made it back.
“Rosey, see you at a practice round for the Masters,” Laopakdee said with a wide smile.
Laopakdee, three shots behind with 10 holes to play at Te Arai Links, flipped the script in one hole when he hit his approach just over the false front to 7 feet for a birdie on No. 11, and Zack Swanwick of New Zealand shockingly took a triple bogey.
That four-shot swing took Laopakdee form a two-shot deficit to a two-shot lead, and the Arizona State senior didn't give Swanwick much of a chance to catch him.
Laopakdee effectively ended it with a wedge to 4 feet on the par-3 17th for one final birdie, stretching his lead to four shots. Swanwick, who began the final round with a two-shot lead over Laopakdee and Cooper Moore, didn't make a birdie until the par-5 closing hole. He shot 75.
Laopakdee joined Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama as the only players to win consecutive years since the Asia-Pacific Amateur began in 2009.
He repeatedly shook his fists when he tapped in for par on the 18th to finish at 6-under 278 at the wind-blown seaside course about an hour north of Auckland.
It was a tough ending for Swanwick, trying to become the first Kiwi to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur in front of a home crowd, in a year when New Zealand celebrated another major champion in Ryan Fox at Royal Birkdale.
Swanwick, a junior at Florida, had a two-shot lead going to the 11th hole when his 6-iron was a little strong and went into a back bunker. His shot came out a fraction too strong, rolled past the pin and then off the false front into a deep swale. His chip-and-run up the slope came back to his feet. The next chip barely stayed on the green and he missed then 8-foot putt to take triple bogey.
“Middle of the green, make par and get out of there,” Swanwick said. “I hit into the bunker, just flew the bunker shot a little too far and got a little too cute with the chip. Just had a few mistakes that cost me.”
Swanwick looked he might get it back on the par-5 13th into the wind. His second shot came up short and he pitched to 10 feet for a chance at birdie. Laopakdee drove into a sandy area, and only advanced the ball some 40 yards into more sand. He laid up, then hit wedge to 20 feet.
Laopakdee rolled in the long par putt, and Swanwick missed his birdie. Instead of a chance to tie for the lead, the Kiwi was still two behind. And on the short par-4 14th, Swanwick drilled driver onto the green, some 70 feet away. He rolled a putt over the ridge to about 8 feet, missed the birdie putt and the missed the 4-foot par putt. The four-putt bogey sent him three behind.
“It was tough luck for Zack on 11, it was super windy,” Laopakdee said. “I somehow hit a great second shot and made birdie and it created huge momentum for me.”
Kayun Mudadana of Australia closed with a 67 and finished alone in third at 2-under 282. Moore birdied the last hole for 75 and was another shot back. Only four players finished under par.
A year ago in Dubai, Laopakdee rallied from a six-shot deficit in the final round and won the Asia-Pacific on the third playoff hole.
Laopakdee, at No. 31 in the world amateur ranking, won the Desimone Invitational in early March at Lake Merced in San Francisco. But the rest of the year was a disappointment until Sunday.
“This is one of the last events of the year, and I wanted to prove to myself that I've still got it,” he said. “To pull it off, it means the whole world to me.”
See AP’s full golf coverage here
FILE -Fifa Laopakdee, of Thailand, walks to green on the second hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
