PNP: Personal ties won’t affect Bato manhunt

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s past position as Philippine National Police chief has no bearing on efforts to arrest him, PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said yesterday.

Nartatez maintained Dela Rosa’s personal relationships with his former subordinates would not influence efforts to enforce the arrest warrant against their former chief.

“The Philippine National Police will remain professional, impartial and steadfast in implementing lawful orders, regardless of who is involved,” he said in a statement.

Palace press officer Claire Castro on Tuesday challenged the PNP to ensure that Dela Rosa’s past stature in the PNP would not affect manhunt operations for him.

Nartatez welcomed Malacañang’s challenge, saying it reinforces a fundamental principle of law enforcement wherein no position, rank or personal relationship is above the law.

He said police officers are loyal to the Constitution and not to persons who previously held positions of authority like Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1986, was the first PNP chief of former president Rodrigo Duterte and chief implementor of his war on drugs. He is facing a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court as Duterte’s co-perpetrator in the crimes against humanity case for alleged atrocities in the past administration’s anti-drug campaign.

Police teams are searching for Dela Rosa, who has a P50-million bounty for his arrest that was put up by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Potential informants are calling the PNP’s hotlines for tips on Dela Rosa’s location, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in Mindanao, allegedly under the protection of an armed group.

Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson has clarified his stance that a crimes against humanity fugitive like Dela Rosa also deserves due process, which includes bringing him before a domestic court before being taken to The Hague to face his cases.

Speaking to dzMM yesterday, Lacson said this would allow Dela Rosa to seek help before the Supreme Court so he could exhaust all available judicial relief before he could be surrendered.

Lacson said it would only be “ministerial” if Dela Rosa had to be brought before a local court. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab