MANILA (May 23) — The net is tightening around Sen. Bato dela Rosa.
The Philippine National Police on Friday said tracker teams have been deployed nationwide to locate and arrest the former police chief following the Supreme Court’s refusal to stop the International Criminal Court warrant against him.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said police units were under orders to strictly follow legal procedures while carrying out the operation.
“Our mandate is clear,” Nartatez said, stressing there would be “no shortcuts” in the arrest mission and that constitutional rights would be respected at all times.
The operation came a day after Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida ordered both the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation to “effect the arrest” of Dela Rosa and facilitate his turnover to The Hague.
Vida described the senator as a fugitive from justice following his reported departure from Senate custody and the Supreme Court’s rejection of his plea for a temporary restraining order.
The crackdown marks the sharpest escalation yet in the ICC case tied to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-drug campaign, where Dela Rosa served as chief enforcer as Philippine National Police head from 2016 to 2018.
Unlike Duterte’s arrest in March 2025, which stemmed from an Interpol notice, authorities said the move against Dela Rosa is now anchored directly on Republic Act 9851 — the Philippine law allowing cooperation with international tribunals on crimes against humanity cases.
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I earlier unsealed an arrest warrant accusing Dela Rosa of crimes against humanity over at least 32 alleged drug war killings carried out during his tenure as PNP chief.
Judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Dela Rosa acted as an indirect co-perpetrator in the killings linked to Duterte’s anti-drug operations.
After months out of public sight, Dela Rosa briefly resurfaced at the Senate on May 11 and was later placed under protective custody. By May 14, however, he was reportedly no longer inside Senate premises — triggering speculation that he had gone into hiding as the legal battle intensified.
