‘Bato’ being tracked, Jonvic confirms

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Thursday the authorities have been monitoring the movements of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who has been absent from the Senate amid reports of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a radio interview, Remulla said Dela Rosa has been moving between several locations using different vehicles over the past three weeks.

“We know where he is. I think we’ve monitored him in six different places in the last three weeks. He’s just moving around his friends’ houses. He’s hiding. He’s just in their houses. When he’s moved around, they use various cars,” Remulla said.

He declined to give specific locations but reiterated that no government agency has received a formal ICC warrant.

“To this date, he is not considered a fugitive. He is not a wanted man. So we have to play it fair. We have to play it cool. Using extrajudicial means of prosecuting the law is no longer in style,” he said.

Dela Rosa has been absent from Senate sessions since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed there was an ICC warrant against him in connection with the drug war killings during the Duterte administration.

Dela Rosa’s lawyer, Atty. Israelito Torreon, said his client was in the country and was avoiding public appearances out of concern for his safety.

In a television interview, Torreon said, “His personal safety is at stake. I can only speculate because I cannot speak for him even though I am his lawyer. He is just making himself unavailable.”

Torreon said that uncertainty over the proper procedure for surrendering individuals to the ICC has complicated the situation.

“Because our government is very clear that it will up the modality of surrender instead of extradition under Section 17 of Republic Act 9851,” Torreon said, referring to the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

Torreon noted that ICC member states such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and Australia had national laws outlining surrender procedures, while the Philippines had none, even when it was still an ICC member before withdrawing in 2019.

“We are the only ones who are so desperate to surrender our nationals, our citizens to The Hague, Netherlands, without a clear basis and without a clear procedure,” he said.

“The person is just kidnapped, not brought before our courts when we have working courts. We have a healthy prosecution service here,” he added.

Torreon said he last spoke with Dela Rosa before 8 November, although their conversation was unrelated to the ICC matter. He added that the senator is “probably still in the Philippines.”

He expressed optimism that the Supreme Court will grant a temporary restraining order (TRO) once an official ICC warrant is issued.

“If the arrest warrant is actually issued, there is compelling necessity that they will present that to the Supreme Court and there is a clear and urgent necessity on the Court to probably act on our TRO,” he said.

He added that while they will not preempt the Court, “the possibility that the Supreme Court will grant the TRO is very high.”

Dela Rosa served as chief of the Philippine National Police during the previous administration’s drug war.