Lacson: PNP not shielding Bato

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday dismissed speculation the Philippine National Police (PNP) was deliberately avoiding arresting its former chief, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, but acknowledged that some “loyalist” officers may be withholding information on the lawmaker’s whereabouts.

Lacson, himself a former PNP chief, said he does not buy unverified reports alleging police complicity in Dela Rosa’s evasion of arrest, adding that he could vouch for PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. to enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant despite his previous ties to Dela Rosa.

“He’s really determined to do his job, and I don’t believe it. Maybe there are elements of the PNP that remain loyal and may know where Senator Dela Rosa is but won’t cooperate by reporting him,” Lacson said in Filipino in a radio interview.

His remarks followed Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s admission that Dela Rosa’s network in the PNP posed a challenge to the ongoing manhunt.

Remulla earlier said the Mindanaoan senator was being coddled by an armed group in the southern region of the country, warning that forcibly arresting him could cost 10,000 lives.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has denied that it is sheltering Dela Rosa.

Lacson expressed confidence the PNP could track down and arrest Dela Rosa, but stressed the whereabouts of high-profile targets should ideally remain confidential.

“[They] should be silent because if it’s telegraphed, you accomplish nothing unless your purpose is to flush your quarry out into the open,” he said.

The authorities have launched an intensified manhunt for the senator, offering a P50-million bounty for information leading to his arrest.

Despite the ultimatum and hefty bounty on his head, Dela Rosa has remained steadfast in refusing to heed the calls.

Lacson questioned the need for the bounty, since the authorities had already received a tip on Dela Rosa’s location, though he acknowledged a strategic reason for offering it.

He believed this tactical move could pressure those protecting the senator to reconsider their position and turn him over to police.

Despite this, Lacson said Dela Rosa is entitled to due process and must be allowed to avail of legal remedies in Philippine courts.

Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity over the alleged systematic killings initially waged in Davao City during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s decades-long stint as mayor, then on a national scale after he was elected to the highest office in 2016.

Dela Rosa was named a co-perpetrator, being the then PNP chief who spearheaded the deadly anti-drug operations that saw some 30,000 killed during Duterte’s presidency alone, based on a rights group’s estimate.

In a Senate hearing in October 2024, Duterte tagged Dela Rosa as a member of the Davao Death Squad, the group purportedly organized to kill criminals in the city that was headed by the former president himself, as alleged by ICC prosecutors.