A spokesperson for the Philippine presidential palace has condemned Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for saying that he may go into hiding to avoid an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On March 11, former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manila on an ICC warrant and extradited to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity related to his violent “war on drugs.”
As chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under Duterte, Dela Rosa was responsible for implementing the ruthless anti-narcotics campaign, which involved the killing of between 12,000 and 30,000 people. Dela Rosa, who was elected to the Senate in 2019 and is running for re-election at the May 12 midterm election, is widely expected to be the subject of an arrest warrant from the ICC in the near future.
In a phone interview with reporters on Wednesday, Dela Rosa said that he would await the outcome of his Supreme Court petition that seeks to prohibit government agencies from cooperating with the ICC and its investigation into the “war on drugs,” PhilStar Global reported.
When asked if “hiding” is an option, Dela Rosa answered in the affirmative. “If we cannot attain justice here, why should I surrender?” he said. “So let us see if there is a glimmer of hope in the Supreme Court, if the Court asserts its independence. I will cross the bridge when I get there.”
At a press briefing yesterday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that Dela Rosa’s comments were “baffling.”
“It is just surprising that he was once the PNP chief. Is that what he wants to imply to the public – that when there is a warrant of arrest, one should go into hiding?” Castro said, as per the Manila Standard. “We do not support that kind of belief or course of action,” she added. “This will not be beneficial to our fellow citizens if our very own leader refuses to face any case or complaint that has been filed or may be filed against him.”
Like Duterte, Dela Rosa argues that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Philippines—a position held by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. before the outbreak of his bitter political feud with the Dutertes.
Dela Rosa initially promised to surrender “peacefully” to the police if and when the ICC issues a warrant for his arrest, saying, “If that is my fate then I have to face it.” But he told reporters that he changed his mind after hearing about the difficulties that Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, faced when attempting to visit her father at the ICC’s detention unit.
“Even the daughter can’t just visit her father there. How much more me, if I become a detainee? It looks like a difficult experience to be detained at The Hague,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa’s comments take place against a backdrop of political controversy over Duterte’s arrest, which has exacerbated the already nasty feud between the Duterte and Marcos camps. “Right now, we are a nation divided by politics,” Inquirer columnist Lila Czarina A. Aquitania wrote this week. “The issue is so polarizing that friends have started unfriending those who do not share their sentiments on social media. This is also true with colleagues at work and among family members in their homes.”
A survey published this week by local pollster Social Weather Stations showed broad support for Duterte’s prosecution. The survey found that 51 percent of respondents agreed that Duterte “should be held accountable” for killings related to his anti-drug campaign, including 47 percent of those polled in the former leader’s home island of Mindanao. Twenty-five percent disagreed, while a further 24 percent were either undecided or “didn’t know enough to give an opinion.”
However, the survey was conducted from February 15 to 19, prior to Duterte’s arrest and deportation to the Netherlands, and did not ask whether Duterte should be tried in the ICC. It may therefore be tricky to draw binding conclusions from the survey result.
If Dela Rosa does decide to go underground in Davao, there is a good chance that he could evade arrest for a long time – if not indefinitely. Apollo Quiboloy, a charismatic preacher who was wanted for sexual abuse and human trafficking in both the Philippines and the United States, managed to hide out in the southern province for five months prior to arrest in September of last year. He eventually surrendered to police at his mega-church’s vast compound in Davao, as his followers protested against his arrest.
As a former police chief of Davao, Dela Rosa could probably command at least the passive loyalty of many local police, as well as the support of the municipal government, which is currently led by Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, Rodrigo’s youngest son, who has described his father’s arrest and extradition as a “kidnapping.” Any attempt by the PNP to extract him from Davao, where Duterte remains popular, could precipitate a confrontation with the former leader’s supporters and push the current political feud across the line into violence.