The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has urged Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to “peacefully and voluntarily” surrender as its efforts to locate the lawmaker to serve a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) continue.
NBI chief Melvin Matibag said Dela Rosa is presumed “armed and dangerous,” based on the NBI’s standard protocol when conducting an operation to locate a “fugitive from justice.”
“Lahat ng target of warrant, ang aming point of view, we will always be ready baka armado at lumaban ang ating subject (When it comes to targets of a warrant, we are always ready in case the subject is armed and would resist arrest),” he said in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, May 23.
“Again, I appeal to Senator Bato to peacefully and voluntarily surrender kasi it’s a process (My appeal to Senator Bato is to peacefully and voluntarily surrender because it’s a process).”
Matibag said he believes Dela Rosa, whose whereabouts remain unknown, is still in the country.
The Department of Justice on Thursday, May 21, confirmed that the Philippine National Police and the NBI have been “tasked to effect the arrest” of Dela Rosa after the Supreme Court rejected the senator’s plea for a temporary restraining order.
Dela Rosa was last seen slipping out of the Senate building in Pasay City on May 14, days after he appeared to cast a vote to oust Senator Vicente Sotto III as Senate president.
Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC over his alleged role in the killings of drug users and pushers during the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal narcotics.PNA
