Jonvic Remulla on Bato dela Rosa arrest: Enough talk, surrender

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Sunday issued a fresh ultimatum to Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to surrender or face an intensified manhunt.

“We’ve been talking for a year. Enough talk. Surrender or face the music,” Remulla told the Inquirer in a Viber message. He warned that authorities would pursue Dela Rosa without restraint if he failed to heed the Philippine National Police deadline.

“Then we pursue him with all abandon,” Remulla said when asked what would happen if the senator refused to surrender within the week, as given by PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Oct. 23.

Article continues after this advertisement

Senate leaders, meanwhile, urged authorities to ensure a safe, orderly and peaceful arrest amid concerns over possible violence.

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

Dela Rosa is wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his role as PNP chief in the drug war under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The senator, who served as national police chief from 2016 to 2018, has been identified as a co-perpetrator in the ICC investigation into alleged crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa has not attended Senate sessions since November 2025, when he went out of public view after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed that the ICC had issued a warrant for his arrest.

He resurfaced on May 11 to vote for Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president and was placed under protective custody at the Senate before leaving two days later following an alleged shootout in the premises.

Article continues after this advertisement

Due process

The government on Friday declared Dela Rosa “armed and dangerous” and offered a P50-million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Nartatez gave the senator one week to surrender, saying the police would seek a peaceful resolution in implementing his arrest.

Article continues after this advertisement

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and Sen. Panfilo Lacson emphasized the need to protect both Dela Rosa as well as the law enforcers tasked with carrying out the arrest.

“To our law enforcers, they must conduct a safe arrest of Senator Bato. No violence should happen,” Gatchalian said in an interview with dzBB, reminding them that the senator is still entitled to due process.

“It’s important that Senator Bato as well as our law enforcers are safe because we know these kinds of operations are dangerous. It’s important to have an orderly arrest,” he added.

Gatchalian said reports that an armed group was protecting Dela Rosa heightened concerns about the possibility of violence.

Remulla said he had received information two months ago that an armed group was protecting the senator, although he has not publicly disclosed any further details.

The interior secretary earlier warned that an attempt to arrest Dela Rosa could result in as many as 10,000 deaths, saying the government was pursuing negotiations for his surrender to avoid endangering lives.

Remulla has maintained that not every problem requires the use of force and that some situations are better resolved through peaceful and humane means.

Don’t negotiate

Gatchalian, however, said the government must assert its authority rather than allow an armed group to dictate the terms of the situation.

“It seems like this armed group is bolder than the government. They are negotiating and it seems that they have the capacity to negotiate. That shouldn’t be the case,” he said.

“In the first place, the government should not be negotiating with the armed group, especially if this armed group is a terrorist group,” Gatchalian added, arguing that negotiations with criminal or terrorist groups could make the government appear weak.

He acknowledged, however, that authorities might be withholding information about the group for security reasons.

Lacson expressed hope that any arrest would be carried out without bloodshed, citing his personal ties with Dela Rosa as a Senate colleague, former subordinate in the PNP and fellow Philippine Military Academy graduate.

“I sincerely hope and pray that should his arrest take place sooner or later, it will be carried out peacefully, without violence or tragedy,” Lacson said in a post on X on Sunday.

“He has his faults, as we all do. But whatever accusations he faces, he is entitled to due process, a fundamental right guaranteed to every Filipino, and for that matter, to every human being,” he added.

Why offer bounty?

Lacson said he believed authorities had reliable information about Dela Rosa’s whereabouts but questioned the need for the P50-million bounty if the police already knew where to find him.

“I would like to believe that they really have solid information on the location of Sen. Bato dela Rosa,” he said in an interview with dwIZ on Saturday.

Lacson also questioned the government’s description of Dela Rosa as “armed and dangerous,” saying that, to his knowledge, the senator had surrendered his licensed firearms.

He acknowledged, however, that authorities might have information about other weapons and said he would leave the assessment to the police.

The Senate minority bloc led by Cayetano also called on Saturday for dialogue and a peaceful resolution, backing Dela Rosa’s right to due process and his appeal to answer the allegations against him before Philippine courts.

Remulla has said he regretted missing the opportunity to arrest Dela Rosa when the senator appeared at the Senate in May.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said the bounty might have been avoided had no one helped him leave the premises.

‘Wild imaginations’

Gatchalian said he had received no communication from Dela Rosa seeking Senate custody or assistance, adding that their last contact was when the senator appeared at the Senate in May.

Lacson also dismissed speculation that the bounty and surrender deadline were intended to prevent Dela Rosa from voting in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“It is just the product of wild imaginations,” he said, noting that the impeachment court had ruled that senators who were not legally and factually capable of participating in the proceedings would not be counted in determining the votes required for conviction.

“Right now, he is in hiding, so he is not really participating anyway. And if he participates, he will likely, if not surely, be arrested,” Lacson added.

“I don’t see how Senator Dela Rosa can participate even in the impeachment trial or in the voting. He may attempt to do it as he did during a previous leadership change, for the votes to reach 13,” he said.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

“But [doing it again is] pushing his luck too hard… If he’ll do it again just to vote, it would only show that our law enforcement is really inefficient, if nothing will be done, if no arrest will be made.” INQ