Palace to police chief: Get Dela Rosa despite PNP past

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Tuesday challenged the leadership of the Philippine National Police to ensure that Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s past position as PNP chief during the Duterte administration would not stand in the way of operations to serve him the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Palace press officer Claire Castro was reacting to a report over the weekend where Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the senator’s past ties with the PNP had complicated the manhunt.

Dela Rosa and the current PNP chief, Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., are also both alumni of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), graduating in 1986 and 1992, respectively.

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READ: MNLF faction says Dela Rosa not under its protection

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But Castro said the administration continued to have confidence in Nartatez’s capabilities and to trust the police force in fulfilling its mandate.

Jonvic’s ‘opinion’

“If that was Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s opinion, he must have felt or observed something. But this is a challenge to the [Department of the Interior and Local Government] leadership, the PNP leadership and the entire police force in the country,” she said.

“We know General Nartatez Jr. personally and we know that what guides him is his duty, not his friendship or alliances with anyone who should be arrested,” she said.

READ: PNP backs Lacson: Secrecy key in hunt for Bato dela Rosa

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In hiding since November, briefly receiving protection for three days at the Senate in May, before disappearing again from public view, Dela Rosa faces an ICC warrant as one of the alleged “co-perpetrators” of Duterte’s brutal war on drugs that left thousands dead.

In March last year, the PNP succeeded in enforcing the ICC arrest warrant on Duterte in Manila and had him flown to The Hague.

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Torre-led Duterte arrest

Though the Philippines had withdrawn its ICC membership during the Duterte presidency, the Marcos administration justified the arrest by citing the country’s commitments to cooperate with the International Criminal Police Organization in serving ICC warrants.

Duterte was then cornered and secured at a military airport lounge by a contingent led by then Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, head of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Unlike Dela Rosa and Nartatez, Torre was not from PMA but a product of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA). He later became the first PNPA graduate to reach the top position of PNP chief.

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On Oct. 21, Nartatez issued a one-week ultimatum for Dela Rosa to surrender. The deadline lapsed on Friday last week, with the senator—now with a P50-million bounty offered by Remulla—still at large. /cb