Bato Dela Rosa says disguise won't help him evade ICC arrest: 'Tinry ko na'
Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said that disguising himself to evade arrest from the International Criminal Court may not work as people would recognize him.
Dela Rosa, who served as chief of the Philippine National Police for almost two years under former president Rodrigo Duterte, may be served an arrest warrant next by the international tribunal, ICC assistant to counsel Atty. Kristina Conti previously said.
His strategy to avoid arrest would be: "Huwag tatanga-tanga."
"Tinry ko na nagcap-cap ako, nagjacket ako, mask-mask ako," Dela Rosa told reporters on Tuesday, March 25. "Nakita ako ng isang tao sa Bicol. Sabi sa akin ng tao na nagbebenta ng kamote, 'Kilala kita! Si Bato ka!'"
"Wala na, patay na. Napilitan tuloy ako na bumili ng tinda niya na kamote dahil mag-iingay man na andun ako. Nakita ako eh."
The senator added that if an arrest warrant for him would be issued by a local court, he would surrender himself. However, if the order would come from the ICC, he would not turn himself in.
Dela Rosa previously said in an interview with Dateline Philippines that he would seek protection from the Senate should the ICC issue an arrest warrant.
"Hanggang saan kaya protektahan ako ng Senado, dun lang ako. 'Pag sabihin nila 'hindi na kaya, you have to surrender yourself,' I will turn in myself peacefully," he said on March 13.
Security detail recalled
The former PNP chief also told reporters that his security detail had been recalled when he recently arrived in Davao.
"Anytime pwede man 'yan sila irecall [...] 'Yung security ko na pinull out, security ko dito sa Davao. Pagdating ko dito[,] wala na sila dahil pina-report sila sa kanilang unit," he said.
"Nag-iingat ang mga commander nila. 'Yung unit commander ba nag-iingat na hindi masilip na may tao sila sa akin, mainit man ang gobyerno sa akin 'di ba?"
Dela Rosa noted that he had two police escorts in Davao and additional security personnel in Manila. He has yet to confirm if his Manila-based security has also been recalled.
Many retired police and soldiers applied to serve as his security detail, Dela Rosa said.
"They have no firearms but they are equipped [with] kamote, balanghoy, saging, manok bisaya [and are] ready to survive [with] me. Very heartwarming," he wrote on Facebook.
Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro, meanwhile, said Dela Rosa's security detail may have been recalled because he is missing.
"Nasaan po ba kasi si Senator Bato? Nakikita po ba natin?" she said in a press briefing. "As of the moment, hindi ko po siya nakikita. So paano natin siya mabibigyan ng seguridad kung hindi po siya nagpapakita?"
Oplan Tokhang
Upon assuming office in 2016, the Duterte administration launched Oplan Tokhang, which saw the execution of thousands of suspected drug peddlers, users, and small-time criminals.
Based on the government's "Real Numbers" data, a total of 6,229 individuals were killed during anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2022. Rights groups, however, estimated that the number of deaths from the bloody anti-narcotics campaign reached as high as 27,000.
Conti told DZBB in an interview that there are three names that the ICC was looking into for their alleged role in Duterte's war on drugs.
"Noon pa man sinisilip nila na responsible: Duterte, Dela Rosa, at Oscar Albayalde," she said.
Duterte, who was arrested for alleged crimes against humanity on March 11, could be the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC. His pre-trial hearing is on Sept. 23, 2025. If the charges are confirmed, it could be months before the case eventually goes on trial and years before a final judgment is rendered. (with reports from Cecille Suerte Felipe)
