Remulla favors talks on Dela Rosa arrest

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday said the government would rather negotiate the arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), than risk a violent confrontation that could cost many lives.

Remulla warned that an attempt to arrest the former Philippine National Police chief could trigger unrest similar to the 2017 Marawi siege, with extremist groups potentially exploiting the situation.

“It could ignite something similar to Marawi, with extremist groups taking advantage of the situation. Look at what happened in Europe. It started with a youth protest involving 200 people in France. It grew to 10,000 because other groups joined in,” said Remulla on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes in Makati City.

Citing the potential for violence involving groups reportedly protecting Dela Rosa, Remulla said the authorities would prioritize a peaceful approach over an operation that could result in mass casualties.

“In exchange for the possibility that as many as 10,000 people could die, I would rather negotiate first than risk the lives of Filipinos,” he said.

“You don’t always solve problems with a hammer. Sometimes you solve things better in a more peaceful and humane way,” he added.

Asked whether negotiating with Dela Rosa could amount to an obstruction of justice, Remulla acknowledged the legal concern but maintained that preventing bloodshed was a priority.

“Yes, but obstruction at the cost of body bags is not worth it,” he said.

Remulla also warned that groups could exploit any unrest to destabilize the southern region where Dela Rosa is believed to be hiding, citing the large amount of money allegedly involved in protecting the senator.

“And that’s what we’re trying to avoid — people taking advantage of the situation to make our region unstable. So we have to handle this delicately,” he said.

The secretary earlier admitted regretting his decision not to arrest Dela Rosa when the senator reappeared at the Senate on 13 May, after he came out of hiding to vote for Sen. Alan Cayetano for Senate president.

“I should have arrested him then,” Remulla said.

But he said he had honored a “gentleman’s agreement” with Cayetano that no arrest would be made while Dela Rosa was under the custody of the Senate.