SEN. Panfilo Lacson on Sunday stressed the importance of keeping sensitive information confidential when pursuing high-profile fugitives.
Lacson made the remark as authorities intensified the hunt for Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, whose one-week deadline to surrender had lapsed.
“SSSHHH... When pursuing a high-profile target or handling a sensitive live case, secrecy discipline is key — unless disinformation is necessary to flush the quarry into the open,” Lacson said on a social media post.
He said disclosing sensitive information ahead of an operation should be done only as a tactic to draw a wanted person out of hiding.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced a P50-million reward for information leading to dela Rosa’s arrest.
Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in connection with the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against drugs. He has not attended Senate sessions since late last year.
He briefly resurfaced on May 11 to vote for Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president but was sneaked out of the Senate premises during a shooting incident two days later.
Sen. JV Ejercito urged authorities to ensure a peaceful resolution to the manhunt for dela Rosa, stressing that the senator must be treated fairly and accorded due process.
Ejercito’s appeal followed a plea from dela Rosa’s wife, Nancy, who called on her husband’s influential former allies to help him rather than persecute him.
In a DWIZ radio interview, Ejercito said he hopes “the situation involving Senator dela Rosa can be resolved peacefully. After all, he is a former chief of the Philippine National Police.”
Dela Rosa’s wife, Nancy, made her appeal in a Facebook post addressed to what she described as the “powerful few” who were once her husband’s friends.
“Please do not use him for your personal agenda. He has helped you in countless ways, and he has done you no wrong personally. He needs your help, not your persecution,” she said.
