MANILA, Philippines – The Department for the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) set a deadline of one week for International Criminal Court (ICC) suspect Senator Bato dela Rosa to surrender.
“Senator Bato mistook my gesture of negotiation as a sign of weakness. Now the gloves have to come off. It is time to bring justice to his victims,” DILG Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said in a press conference on Friday, October 23.
In the same briefing, Remulla also announced that his department is offering a P50-million reward for those who can help capture Dela Rosa. The interior chief also described Dela Rosa as “armed and dangerous.
“We have given him all the courtesy that could be afforded a senator of the Republic of the Philippines, and he has shown nothing but cowardice by going into and remaining in hiding,” Remulla added.
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, in November last year, issued a warrant against Dela Rosa due to his role in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.
He was Duterte’s first PNP chief who implemented the anti-drug campaign which human rights organizations said took the lives of nearly 30,000 people. The ICC named him a co-perpetrator in the case. It added that those involved “controlled a structure of power” which enabled them to “direct and control the actions” of those who carried out drug war killings.
In November, the warrant was still sealed. It was only made public on May 11, after Dela Rosa, following months of absence in the upper house, showed up at the Senate to back Alan Peter Cayetano’s election as Senate president. For three days, Dela Rosa hid inside the Senate building until a shooting chaos — allegedly triggered by his mistah Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca — ensued on the night of May 13.
Hours later, Dela Rosa escaped from the Senate at around 2:30 am with his ally Senator Robin Padilla.
Padilla is now facing an obstruction of justice complaint due to the incident, while Aplasca has been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
On Friday, Remulla said there’s already a task force, headed by PNP deputy chief Police Lieutenant General Wilson Joseph Lopez, directed to locate and arrest the senator. The DILG said they are validating reports of Dela Rosa’s sightings in Western Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Bicol, Metro Manila, and Southern Luzon.
“The PNP is always ready for that whether peaceful or armed confrontation… whether with search warrant or arrest warrant. We have the necessary force, personnel, and training for that,” said Nartatez.
The Department of Justice announced on May 21 that the PNP and National Bureau of Investigation had been ordered to arrest the senator – but this happened weeks after Dela Rosa’s escape. – Rappler.com
