(UPDATE) TRACKER teams from the Philippine National Police (PNP) have joined the nationwide manhunt for Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Friday said the specialized units were deployed after the Department of Justice (DOJ) gave the green light for Dela Rosa’s arrest.
Nartatez said the teams have orders to apply maximum tolerance and professionalism during the manhunt.
“Our mandate is clear, but I am emphasizing to our personnel that operational discipline is paramount. There will be no shortcuts, and every movement will be heavily aligned with existing protocols to protect constitutional rights and maintain public trust,” Nartatez said in a statement.
In a later interview, Nartatez said that once arrested, Dela Rosa will be turned over to the DOJ.
The DOJ did not say if the senator would be flown immediately to The Hague, Netherlands, where he will be under the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention.
“The procedure to be followed pertains to operational matters that cannot be publicly disclosed so as not to defeat the ultimate objective to bring him to the ICC and exact justice,” DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez said.
Last year, former president Rodrigo Duterte was flown directly to The Hague after he arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong to stand trial for crimes against humanity before the ICC.
The PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) confirmed it has a copy of the ICC arrest warrant for Dela Rosa.
The CIDG also assured that the senator has not left the country, belying reports that he has been spotted in Malaysia.
“Senator Bato is still in the country, and we will enforce that warrant,” Police Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II told reporters in Camp Crame.
Morico also warned that anyone who will help, protect or block the serving of the warrant against Dela Rosa faces arrest.
“If there’s a warrant and you aid a fugitive from evading justice, [that’s] obstruction of justice. We will also be filing charges, and we will be arresting people from resorts, houses or subdivisions who will prevent us from serving the warrant,” he said.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is fielding its own teams to go after the senator.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag told a media briefing on Friday that efforts to locate Dela Rosa are in full swing.
“We are right now looking for him. If we will see him today, we will arrest him today. If we will see him tomorrow or next week, we will arrest him,” Matibag said.
Pressed on whether the NBI will wait for the full ruling of the Supreme Court before implementing the arrest order, Matibag said he is leaving the matter of legal interpretation to the DOJ.
Matibag said there is no confirmation from the Bureau of Immigration that Dela Rosa had left the country.
Also on Friday, Sen. Robinhood Padilla denied he helped Dela Rosa secretly leave the Senate building last week.
Interviewed on the Net 25 program “Sa Ganang Mamamayan,” Padilla dismissed circulating claims he abetted Dela Rosa’s “escape,” saying not one stopped them when they left the Senate.
“There were a lot of police inside and outside the Senate, and there is CCTV. No one stopped us,” he said.
Padilla said he stayed in the Senate for three days to accompany Dela Rosa amid rising tensions that began after the senator showed up at the Senate following a six-month absence.
“You can feel the atmosphere is different. There are armed men outside. There are rallies, there are heated discussions,” he said.
He recounted reports of gunfire near the lower portion of the Senate building, sowing fears among the people inside. Padilla and Dela Rosa were reportedly in their offices on the fifth floor at the time.
“Some senators were really scared. It was dark, there was no light, and the situation was tense. Some were crying. So, I went down to see if everything was OK,” Padilla said.
He said Dela Rosa appeared more concerned about the safety of senators, members of the media and civilians at the Senate complex than about his own situation.
Padilla confirmed that Dela Rosa spoke with Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Nartatez when they visited the Senate after the incident.
He recalled Remulla telling Dela Rosa, “I am not here to arrest you, sir; I am here to secure the place.”
“The conversation was light-hearted, there was no tension,” Padilla recalled.
Padilla said neither the NBI nor the PNP presented any warrant issued by a local court, reinforcing his belief that there was no basis for claims that Dela Rosa was fleeing authorities.
Padilla said that shortly before dawn on Thursday, he told Dela Rosa that he needed to go home because his wife was looking for him. Dela Rosa decided to leave with him.
“Senator Bato said, ‘I’ll go.’ Why should I deny that? Sen[ator] Bato has no vehicle because he was just brought to the Senate by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s vehicle,” Padilla said.
Dela Rosa got off somewhere in Makati City, where his own vehicle fetched him. Padilla said he did not ask where Dela Rosa planned to go afterward.
Padilla also objected to descriptions of Dela Rosa as a “fugitive,” arguing that Philippine legal processes should take precedence over external characterizations.
“For me, he is not a fugitive. I cannot accept that we should just call him that because a foreigner said so. We also need to respect our own process as a country,” he said.
Former PNP chief Nicholas Torre III believes it was the duty of police officers to implement lawful warrants.
“It’s not about me or Senator Bato. It is about a process. It is about a system. It is about a law. And it is about a job,” Torre said in an interview on Friday.
“The job of the police is not to judge the case but to implement the processes and in this case, the warrant,” he said.
Torre said several lawyers and legal authorities have stated that the warrant against Dela Rosa was legal and enforceable.
