If Bato doesn’t surrender, what next?
MANILA, Philippines — Efforts to track down Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa would continue if he does not turn himself over to authorities within the one-week deadline set by the police, Malacañang said yesterday.
The government has offered a P50-million bounty for the capture of Dela Rosa, who has a standing arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Dela Rosa, the former Philippine National Police chief who implemented the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war, was given one week to surrender.
Asked yesterday what would happen if Dela Rosa does not surrender within the week, Palace press officer Claire Castro said the police would continue its operation to locate him.
“As (Interior) Secretary (Jonvic) Remulla said, there would be no mercy so the law should be implemented. Arrest the one who should be arrested,” Castro told state-run Radyo Pilipinas.
Castro justified putting up a bounty for Dela Rosa’s arrest, saying it is part of the operations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the PNP.
“The confidential and intelligence funds given to the DILG and the PNP are allocated to this because it is a real operation,” Castro said.
“If this is the way they spend the intelligence fund, this is just appropriate as long as they can prove that they are conducting operations and if they are producing results,” she added.
Remulla said Dela Rosa is hiding in Mindanao and is being protected by a powerful group. He claimed that the fugitive senator’s protectors have armed personnel and that a confrontation could result in fatalities worse than the 2017 Marawi siege.
Malacañang has urged Dela Rosa to surrender to avoid bloodshed.
National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag said there is no negotiation between the NBI and Dela Rosa, saying the bureau is processing information that could lead to the senator’s immediate capture.
“We want to get him as soon as possible because we have a commitment to the international community and the people. We need answers, so hopefully we can arrest him soon,” Matibag told reporters.
NBI agents failed to apprehend Dela Rosa while the latter was under Senate custody prior to the senator’s escape on May 14.
The PNP has formed tracker teams, including Special Action Force personnel, to locate and arrest Dela Rosa after authorities gave the senator until Thursday to surrender.
PNP spokesman Col. Allen Rae Co said yesterday the operation was intensified upon the order of President Marcos, with a task force led by deputy chief for administration Lt. Gen. Wilson Lopez coordinating the manhunt.?
“The full force of the PNP is in play to bring justice within the folds of the law,” Co said, adding that police prefer a peaceful resolution to avoid putting the lives of the senator, law enforcers and the public at risk.?
Co said authorities had received no feelers from Dela Rosa regarding a possible surrender.
He added that the latest information gathered by police indicated that the senator remained in the Philippines, although investigators were still verifying his last known whereabouts.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Dela Rosa may be safer in the Philippines instead of fleeing the country and getting arrested abroad.
Speaking to dzMM yesterday, Lacson said Dela Rosa is more prone to arrest overseas using the warrant from a foreign tribunal like the ICC, especially in countries with extradition treaties.
“What’s difficult is that it’s an international warrant. So where does he go? He is more exposed overseas,” Lacson said.
“It’s safer here in the Philippines,” he added.
Speaking in an interview at the Senate, Sen. JV Ejercito said Dela Rosa deserves due process.
“I’m hoping it’s peaceful. No need to use force or anything like that, but a peaceful resolution,” Ejercito said. — Mark Ernest Villeza, Delon Porcalla, Marc Jayson Cayabyab
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