MANILA, Philippines — Dispelling rumors that spread Tuesday afternoon, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla clarified that Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has not been arrested yet and remains at large.
“On behalf of the PNP I would like to confirm categorically that as of 6 pm last night, there has been no arrest for Sen. Bato. There’s been a lot of speculation na nahuli siya ( that he was arrested) and he’s been whisked away to The Hague, hindi po totoo yan (that’s not true),” Remulla told reporters in an interview in Quezon City on Wednesday (August 5).
According to Remulla they have coordinated with the Department of Justice and all law enforcement units and none has confirmed any arrest done on Dela Rosa.
“Sen. Bato is still being hunted down. Just to be clear,” he said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, rumors started swirling around that Dela Rosa, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court warrant over his alleged involvement in the Duterte administration's war on drugs, has been located and arrested.
Rumors were further fueled when one of Dela Rosa’s lawyers, Jimmy Bondoc, made a cryptic post saying “Bad news is coming. Pray hard that it is not true, for the good of the nation.” He however did not elaborate on what he was referring to but people were quick to connect that it had something to do with the senator’s rumored arrest.
Remulla dismissed such rumors as “fake news.” Even Dela Rosa’s lead counsel Israelito Torreon also denied the arrest.
“The statements have to come from us kung talagang nangyari o hindi (if it really happened or not),” he said.
He also denied a supposed cover up of the debunked arrest and said all of their operations are made known to the public.
“Hindi kami ganoon, wala kaming secret operations na hindi nalalaman ng mga tao,” he said.
In the event the senator gets arrested, Remulla said he will be subjected to proper procedures according to law.
“He will be booked, he will be made to appear in court, dadalhin na siya (he will be brought to The Hague) for extradition,” he said.
Dela Rosa has been in hiding since May after his sudden appearance to the Senate to vote in favor of the leadership change. After the controversial Senate shooting, he was seen leaving the building with Sen. Robin Padilla and from there on went into hiding.
