MANILA — The Philippines escalated its manhunt for a sitting senator on Friday, announcing a ₱50 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa, the former national police chief who has been in hiding from an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for nearly a year.
Source: ABS-CBN News (ANC)
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced the reward at a press briefing at Camp Crame, the police headquarters in Quezon City, saying Dela Rosa would be considered 'armed and dangerous' from Friday. 'It's time for the gloves to come off. It's time to bring justice to his victims,' Remulla said, adding that the government had extended every courtesy due to a senator and that Dela Rosa had answered by staying in hiding.
Source: Manila Bulletin
The bounty — ₱50 million, yaani roughly US$787,000 (about 7.9 lakh dollars) — will be paid from the intelligence funds of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police, officials said.
Bounty: ₱50 million (yaani about US$787,000) for information leading to Dela Rosa's arrest. Status: declared 'armed and dangerous'. Ultimatum: police gave the senator one week to surrender. Warrant: issued by the ICC in November last year, naming him a co-perpetrator in the crimes-against-humanity case over former President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war.
A task force to hunt a senator
Remulla said a dedicated task force headed by Lt. Gen. Wilson Joseph Lopez, the police chief of directorial staff, has been formed with the sole task of locating and arresting Dela Rosa. National police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said police were prepared to enforce the warrant peacefully but were also ready for an armed confrontation if it came to that, and gave the senator one week to surrender.
Dela Rosa has been out of public view since May 14, when he left the Senate building shortly after briefly reappearing to vote in a Senate leadership contest. He had earlier been monitored in Mindanao, in the country's south, Remulla said.
The ICC case
The ICC issued its warrant against Dela Rosa last November — November will mark one year since it was issued, Remulla noted on Friday. Prosecutors name Dela Rosa, who ran the national police from 2016 to 2018, as a co-perpetrator alongside former President Rodrigo Duterte in alleged crimes against humanity linked to the anti-drug campaign, in which thousands of people were killed. Both men have denied wrongdoing, and Dela Rosa is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Dela Rosa's camp declined to respond to the bounty and the surrender deadline. His lawyer, Israelito Torreon, posted a short statement on social media on Friday: to all those requesting comment, he wrote, the camp's comment is 'No comment.'
What is solid
- Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced the ₱50 million bounty at a Camp Crame press briefing on Friday, October 23, and declared Dela Rosa 'armed and dangerous'.
- A police task force under Lt. Gen. Wilson Joseph Lopez has been formed to locate and arrest the senator.
- Dela Rosa has been in hiding since leaving the Senate on May 14, and faces an ICC arrest warrant issued last November.
What is only claimed
- The ICC alleges Dela Rosa bears criminal responsibility, as a co-perpetrator, for murder as a crime against humanity during the Duterte drug war — allegations he and Duterte deny; no court has convicted him.
- Remulla's characterisation of Dela Rosa's hiding as 'cowardice' is the government's political framing, not a judicial finding.