Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa | Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines — Reelectionist Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said the votes he received in the 2025 midterm elections were “protest votes” for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) order to arrest former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Dela Rosa has received 20,257,087 votes in the election in the partial and unofficial count so far, placing him third in the Senate race as of 4:12 p.m. on Tuesday, according to INQUIRER.net’s tally.
“This is how high our vote count is. These are protest votes coming from the people who are very much aggrieved about what happened to former President Duterte,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino on Tuesday.
“Our rise in the results really did come with a very heavy price, and this was the freedom of President Duterte,” he added.
Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague, Netherlands, on March 11 to face the ICC for allegations of crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s anti-narcotics campaign.
Dela Rosa was Duterte’s long-time ally and his first Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, becoming the architect of the drug war.
Reelection bid
The reelectionist senator ran for a second term under the banner of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), the party chaired by Duterte.
The following also ran under the PDP slate, eventually dubbing themselves the “DuterTen”:
- Reelectionist Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go
- Musician and lawyer Jimmy Bondoc
- Former Interior Usec. Jayvee Hinlo
- Former Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon Raul Lambino
- SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta
- Doctor and vlogger Richard Mata
- Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy
- Former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez
- Actor Phillip Salvador
On the final night of the campaign period, the PDP adopted presidential sister and independent candidate Sen. Imee Marcos and Nacionalista Party bet and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar into their slate.
Marcos and Villar initially started under the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate backed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
In the partial and unofficial count, as of 4:12 p.m. on Tuesday, Go leads the Senate race, with Marcoleta at sixth place, Villar at 10th place, and Marcos at 12th place.
“We thank our fellow countrymen, and they’ve helped us to return to the Senate. Thank you all so much and we’re very happy we were supported,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino.