MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine senator said Tuesday he will fight any attempt to send him to the International Criminal Court for prosecution on an alleged crime against humanity, adding he never condoned extrajudicial killings when he led the country's police force.
On Monday, the global tribunal in The Hague unsealed an arrest warrant for Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who first enforced then- President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs crackdowns in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed.
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A supporter of former Senator Ronald dela Rosa and Vice President Sara Duterte gestures as they hold a rally outside the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Policemen secure the perimeter of the Philippine Senate as supporters of Senator Ronald dela Rosa and Vice President Sara Duterte hold rallies in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa becomes emotional while talking with other senators before the start of the session at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa listens to reporters as he responds to questions about his unsealed ICC warrant of arrest at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa speaks to reporters at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Originally issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018 in the Philippines.
“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate, which took him into “protective custody” Monday when he reappeared after months of absence.
“I will avail of all legal processes,” he said, and pleaded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: “Don’t bring me to The Hague.”
After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte designated dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs.
Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was a longtime mayor and built a political name for his extra tough approach to crimes.
“My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people,” dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.
“When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves,” dela Rosa said.
Duterte’s six-year term ended in mid-2022. He was arrested last year and detained by the ICC in the Netherlands, where he is awaiting trial for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with several killings under his crackdowns.
Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability. The court, however, said it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member.
Asked if the Philippines will enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant against dela Rosa, officials suggested they were ready and could surrender him to the global court’s jurisdiction like Duterte under a Philippine law enacted to address crimes against humanity like genocide.
“We have an obligation that all those who should be held to account should be held responsible,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a news briefing.
Dela Rosa cannot invoke a privilege of immunity from arrest while attending formal sessions or staying within the Senate because the crimes he allegedly committed were serious and punishable by a long prison term, Castro said.
Police have deployed nearly 350 law enforcers outside the Senate, sparking concerns from dela Rosa and allied senators, but officials said they were assigned to keep order and not to eventually help arrest the senator.
A supporter of former Senator Ronald dela Rosa and Vice President Sara Duterte gestures as they hold a rally outside the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Policemen secure the perimeter of the Philippine Senate as supporters of Senator Ronald dela Rosa and Vice President Sara Duterte hold rallies in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa becomes emotional while talking with other senators before the start of the session at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa listens to reporters as he responds to questions about his unsealed ICC warrant of arrest at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa speaks to reporters at the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Polls have closed across Nebraska, where the fate of the state's “blue dot” — a small, but significant factor in presidential politics — took center stage Tuesday as Democrats selected a congressional nominee in the state's high-profile 2nd District.
State Sen. John Cavanaugh and political activist Denise Powell were seen as the top contenders in the Democratic primary as their party looks to the Omaha-area district, where Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon is retiring, as one of its top targets in the November general election.
The winner will face Republican Brinkner Harding, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary. The Omaha City Council member is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The district draws national attention because Nebraska is one of just two states that splits its electoral votes in presidential elections. The 2nd District has gone to Democratic presidential candidates three out of five times since 2008 — a “blue dot” in an otherwise sea of red.
Some Democrats contended that the very survival of the “blue dot,” a point of intense local pride, was at stake on Tuesday.
Some argued that a Cavanaugh primary victory would jeopardize the district's special status because he'd be leaving his valuable state legislative seat, making it easier for Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature to change the law that allows the state to split its electoral votes.
The issue has defined the primary contest, where the leading candidates have much in common ideologically, perhaps more than any other.
Outside an Omaha polling place, Beth Pepitone said she voted for Powell because she wanted someone who would stand up to Trump.
“I just think we’re going in the wrong direction and it’s very sad,” said Pepitone. “I want to preserve the ‘blue dot.’”
The Democratic argument against Cavanaugh has little to do with his politics or policies.
His opponents and groups backing them have flooded mailboxes, airwaves and social media warning that if he wins the congressional primary, Nebraska's Republican governor would appoint a conservative Republican to replace him in the Legislature.
That move, they say, could give state Republicans enough votes to enact a conservative wish list that includes stricter limitations on abortion and transgender rights.
It could also empower Republicans to enact midcycle redistricting or change the state's unusual system of splitting presidential electoral votes, some Democrats argue. Republicans failed in 2024 to pass a bill that would have made Nebraska the 49th state to award its Electoral College votes on a winner-take-all basis.
“Our Blue Dot. We fought hard for it. But if John Cavanaugh goes to Congress, it could all fall down,” cautions one TV ad by the super PAC New Democrat Majority.
EMILY’s List, a national group that supports women running for office, has put its reach and money behind Powell, calling Cavanaugh’s candidacy “a gift to MAGA Republicans.”
Republican groups have sent out mailers and social media posts claiming Cavanaugh “is in agreement with President Donald Trump” and showing a photo of Cavanaugh overlaid on a photo of the president, making it appear as if the two are standing together.
“Clearly, the Republicans know that I’m the strongest general election candidate,” Cavanaugh said. “And so they’re trying to hurt me.”
The attacks on Cavanaugh show Democrats and Republicans believe he has the best chance of winning the general election, said Paul Landow, a former Nebraska Democratic Party executive director.
He called the “blue dot” attacks disingenuous, noting Republicans already have a filibuster-proof majority in the Legislature but have still failed to pass key elements of their agenda because it is unpopular even among GOP lawmakers. The argument that a Cavanaugh win could weaken the state’s “blue dot” also assumes Democrats won’t pick up additional legislative seats this year, he said.
“There’s so many things that have to fall into place for this alleged danger to the ‘blue dot,’” Landow said. “It’s just wild speculation.”
While all the Democratic contenders cite affordability and opposition to Trump administration policies — from immigration and healthcare to military actions — the top contenders began attacking one another more aggressively in the days leading up to the primary.
Powell co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska, a political action committee that supports progressive female candidates, and she has a decade of Democratic political activism. She's never held office but said her deep connections have helped her with independents and third-party voters who make up nearly 30% of the district's electorate.
“My name recognition has increased dramatically,” Powell said, adding that "people are really connecting with my message.”
The winner of Tuesday's primary will head to a highly competitive general election.
Trump won the district in 2016, and the retiring Bacon, who has clashed with Trump, has held the House seat for five terms.
At an Omaha polling place, independent Hayden Kephart said her biggest concern is inflation.
“Obviously the price of everything has really gone up,” she said. “And the price of oil can be a factor in everyday life and travel plans.”
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts won Tuesday's GOP primary in his bid to seek a full term following his 2023 appointment and 2024 special election victory to replace Republican Ben Sasse.
Ricketts was already looking ahead to an expected general election contest against independent candidate Dan Osborn, an industrial mechanic and military veteran who came within 7 points of defeating Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in her 2024 reelection bid. Cindy Burbank won the Democratic primary.
In the race for governor, incumbent Republican Gov. Jim Pillen won his party’s primary, while former state Sen. Lynne Walz won the Democratic nomination.
Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
Denise Powell hugs her husband, Hobson, after voting in the Nebraska Primary Election at Omaha Community Playhouse Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. Powell is a candidate for the Democratic nomination to the House of Representatives in Nebraska's second district. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Denise Powell, candidate for the Democratic nomination to the House of Representatives in Nebraska's second district, votes in the Nebraska Primary Election at Omaha Community Playhouse Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
District county clerk Crystal Rhoades speaks at a fundraising event Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)
Political activist Denise Powell speaks at a fundraising event Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)
State Sen. John Cavanaugh speaks at an office in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)
