The Philippine Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have given Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa one week to turn himself in, according to Rappler. At a press conference in Manila on Friday, October 23, DILG Secretary Juanito Victor "Jonvic" Remulla also announced a P50-million reward for information that helps authorities capture the senator.
Dela Rosa is wanted under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over his role in the anti-drug campaign of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Remulla described the senator as "armed and dangerous," Rappler reported.
Why it matters
The deadline marks a sharp turn in the government's handling of a sitting senator who is the subject of an international arrest warrant. Dela Rosa served as Duterte's first PNP chief and carried out the drug war that human rights groups say left nearly 30,000 people dead. The ICC named him a co-perpetrator in the case, finding that those involved held a structure of power that let them direct and control the actions of those who carried out the killings, according to Rappler.
Remulla said he had earlier extended room for negotiation, and that the senator misread it. "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," he said, as quoted by Rappler. The interior chief added that dela Rosa had been given every courtesy due a senator and had responded by staying in hiding, which Remulla called cowardice.
How the case unfolded
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issued the warrant in November last year, but it remained sealed for months. It became public on May 11, after dela Rosa returned to the Senate following a long absence to support Alan Peter Cayetano's bid for Senate president, Rappler reported.
He then stayed inside the Senate building for three days. On the night of May 13, a shooting incident broke out, which Rappler reports was allegedly triggered by Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca, described as dela Rosa's mistah. In the early hours of the following morning, around 2:30 a.m., dela Rosa left the compound with his ally Senator Robin Padilla.
Padilla now faces an obstruction of justice complaint over the episode, and the Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed Aplasca, according to Rappler. The Department of Justice ordered the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest dela Rosa on May 21 — weeks after he had already fled.
Task force and possible sightings
Remulla said a task force led by PNP deputy chief Police Lieutenant General Wilson Joseph Lopez has been formed to find and arrest the senator. Authorities are checking reports that dela Rosa has been seen in Western Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Bicol, Metro Manila and Southern Luzon, the DILG said.
The PNP said it is equipped for any scenario during the arrest. "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," Nartatez said, as quoted by Rappler.
Coverage of the announcement also drew in other outlets. AP News reported that the Philippines had announced a bounty on a senator wanted by the ICC for a crime against humanity, while BusinessMirror reported that Gatchalian rejected the idea of negotiation over the fugitive senator. SunStar and the Manila Bulletin both carried word of the P50-million reward.
What happens next depends on whether dela Rosa surfaces before the one-week window closes; if he does not, the task force's search and the bounty offer become the government's main tools for finding him.
