Lacson sees possible PNP 'loyalists' withholding info on Bato's whereabouts, vouches for Nartatez

Senator Ping Lacson on Wednesday rejected speculation that the Philippine National Police (PNP) is deliberately resisting the arrest of its former chief, Senator Bato dela Rosa, though he did not rule out the possibility that some “loyalist” officers may be withholding information on the lawmaker’s whereabouts.

Lacson, an erstwhile national police chief, said he does not buy unverified reports alleging PNP complicity, adding that he can vouch for PNP Chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. to enforce the International Criminal Court warrant despite previous ties with 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 De la Rosa is, but won’t cooperate by reporting him,” Lacson said in Filipino in a radio interview.

The remarks follow Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s admission that Dela Rosa’s network in the PNP and law enforcement poses a challenge to their ongoing manhunt.

Remulla earlier said that the Mindanaoan senator is being coddled by an armed group in said province, and warned that forcibly arresting him could cost 10,000 lives.

The Moro National Liberation Front has already denied the allegations of sheltering.

Lacson expressed confidence that the PNP can track down Dela Rosa and eventually arrest him, though he argued that announcements about the location of high-profile targets should ideally remain secret.

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

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

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

Lacson questioned the need for the bounty, since 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 stressed that Dela Rosa is entitled to due process and must be given the opportunity to avail legal remedies in Philippine courts once arrested.

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

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

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