MANILA (May 28) — The walls are closing in on Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa — and the Philippine National Police says even a former top cop will get no favors.
As authorities intensified efforts tied to the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war, PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Wednesday declared that police officers are under strict orders not to “go soft” on the senator despite his enduring influence within the organization.
“No individual is above the law regardless of rank or title,” Nartatez said in a strongly worded statement.
The message came amid growing public speculation that some officers might hesitate to enforce legal procedures against dela Rosa, the former PNP chief who once commanded the very institution now tasked to potentially pursue him.
Nartatez insisted professionalism — not loyalty — would prevail.
“We expect all officers to uphold standard operating procedures without fear or favor,” he said, while appealing to dela Rosa’s “sense of duty as a lifelong law enforcer” to cooperate with authorities.
Behind the scenes, the pressure appears to be mounting rapidly.
Before dawn on Wednesday, operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) swooped down on a house in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City, Pampanga, following reports that dela Rosa could be hiding there.
The property, located inside Diamond Subdivision, is reportedly owned by Lakay Cariño — identified by local officials as the maternal uncle of actor-turned-senator Robin Padilla.
Barangay chairman Joseph Ponce said authorities coordinated with village officials at around 5:30 a.m. before conducting the operation.
Investigators allegedly tracked a pickup truck believed to have transported dela Rosa after he reportedly slipped out of the Senate before dawn on May 14.
But the search turned up empty.
No sign of dela Rosa. No pickup truck. No confrontation.
While authorities remained tight-lipped on whether the operation was directly linked to efforts to arrest the senator, another blow landed almost simultaneously.
In a May 26 order, the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO) revoked and canceled dela Rosa’s firearms licenses under Republic Act 10591, ordering the immediate confiscation or surrender of his 117 registered firearms.
“This Order of Revocation shall be immediately executory,” the directive stated.
The move dramatically escalates the legal battle surrounding dela Rosa, who has become one of the most prominent figures linked to the ICC probe into thousands of killings associated with the Duterte-era anti-drug campaign.
For years, dela Rosa was the face of the government’s war on drugs — the tough-talking police general who led the crackdown from the frontlines.
Now, the man who once commanded the police force finds himself increasingly cornered by the same machinery of law enforcement he once led.
