Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) general manager Nicolas Torre III said Friday he would assist in the manhunt for Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa if ordered by the President, stressing that institutional processes must transcend individual figures.
The former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief said any presidential directive must be executed regardless of personal or political ties.
“This is the bottom line... institutionally, it’s not about a person, it’s not about me, it’s not about Senator Bato,” Torre said. “It’s about a process, it’s about a system, it’s about a law.”
Torre, who briefly led the national police force and previously assisted in the high-profile 2025 arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, said law enforcement cannot engage in selective enforcement.
“The authorities themselves are saying the warrant is legal, you can implement that,” Torre said. “Police and self-enforcement — you cannot choose which ones to implement and which ones not to.”
To recall, the ICC confirmed an arrest warrant for Dela Rosa earlier this month over alleged crimes against humanity linked to thousands of deaths during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign, which Dela Rosa led as police chief.
Dela Rosa has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, questioned the ICC’s jurisdiction, and petitioned the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order to block the warrant.
Following the high court’s rejection of that petition, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida directed the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to execute the warrant.
Meantime, PNP chief Police General Jose Melencion Nartatez Jr. confirmed that tracker teams have been deployed to locate Dela Rosa, with instructions to respect human rights and follow proper operational procedures.
The NBI also pledged to carry out the arrest “without delay.”
Dela Rosa’s legal counsel called the enforcement of an ICC warrant without local court intervention a violation of constitutional and international law principles.
For Torre, however, upholding the law is essential to maintaining the integrity of national institutions.
“They have to do it — protect the process, let it run in its natural course, and most especially protect the institution because ultimately it is the thing that we protect here,” Torre said. “And the foremost consideration that we must protect is the interest of the country.”
