Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa (left) and Palace press officer Claire Castro—SENATE FILE PHOTO/ NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Malacañang on Monday distanced President Marcos from the P50-million bounty for the arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, saying the reward was ordered solely by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and the Philippine National Police leadership.
Palace press officer Claire Castro stressed that the President did not personally authorize the bounty, which would be funded through the confidential and intelligence funds of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the PNP.
“It’s not like the President will specifically mention giving him a P50-million bounty. That won’t come from the President himself because this is a strategy, an operation by Secretary Jonvic Remulla and the PNP leadership,” Castro said in an interview on Radyo Pilipinas Cagayan de Oro.
“This is not the kind of 11 days where intel funds or confi funds are immediately exhausted… This is a real operation and not planting banana chips,” she added, in an apparent reference to Vice President Sara Duterte’s use of P125 million in confidential funds in 11 days in 2022 and her husband’s links to a banana chips business.
National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag, meanwhile, warned that an encounter could occur during efforts to arrest Dela Rosa but said authorities would seek to minimize violence.
“So the possibility of an encounter is there. We are not removing that. All law enforcement, there’s a possibility of an encounter. You know that,” Matibag said.
“But as much as possible, we want to get him with the least violence that will happen,” he added.
Still in PH
Matibag said the NBI had received new information about Dela Rosa’s possible whereabouts following the bounty announcement and would conduct further operations in the coming days.
“He’s in the Philippines, that’s the bigger information we have here,” he said.
The NBI chief said Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, likely had contacts who could help him evade arrest, noting he had not surrendered all his firearms.
Matibag also said the NBI was not negotiating with an armed group that Remulla had identified as supposedly protecting Dela Rosa.
Castro said the operation would continue if the senator failed to surrender within the one-week deadline set by authorities.
“As Secretary Jonvic said, no mercy. The law must be enforced, those who need to be arrested must be arrested,” she said.
Asked whether Dela Rosa’s assets could be frozen, Castro said the Anti-Money Laundering Council would have to determine whether his wealth warranted investigation or action.
Due process
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Dela Rosa might be safer staying in the Philippines than fleeing abroad, where the international nature of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant could make him more vulnerable to arrest.
“Senator Dela Rosa’s situation is difficult because the ICC warrant is international. Where will he go? If he goes abroad, he would be more exposed and it will be easier for authorities to arrest him,” Lacson said.
Dela Rosa might have had more options if the warrant had been issued by Philippine authorities, including seeking refuge in a country without an extradition treaty with the Philippines.
“But if it was the ICC that issued the warrant, he’ll have a harder time hiding. He would be safer in the Philippines,” Lacson said.
He also rejected calls to deny Dela Rosa due process because victims of alleged extrajudicial killings (EJK) under the Duterte administration had been denied justice.
“It is wrong to argue that since EJK victims were denied due process, Senator Dela Rosa should also be denied the same,” Lacson said, warning against answering one injustice with another.
Dela Rosa, PNP chief from 2016 to 2018, is wanted in connection with the ICC case against former President Rodrigo Duterte over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the antidrug campaign.
Former ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s investigation estimated that 12,000 to 30,000 people were killed in the drug war. Dela Rosa has been named as an alleged co-perpetrator in the case against Duterte.