Bato dela Rosa may still be in PH – lawyer

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa may still be in the Philippines amid the alleged issuance of an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC), dela Rosa’s legal counsel said on Wednesday.

“I think so. He is still in the Philippines but I could not confirm that with certainty,” lawyer Israelito Torreon told reporters in an ambush interview.

Dela Rosa has been absent at the Senate’s plenary sessions since November 11.

This was after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, over the war on illegal drugs of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte.

Torreon said he is in communication with the senator’s family about dela Rosa’s status.

He said dela Rosa wants to be clarified on the “procedure that is to be undertaken by the Philippine government in order to effectuate surrender.”

“We have clarified what the extradition process. There is Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1069, klaro po yun. Yung Korte Suprema nagpalabas po ng extradition rules. Pero dito po sa surrender, wala po tayong legislation, wala tayong constitutional amendment, wala tayong maski IRR [implementing rules and regulations] man lang as to how to effectuate surrender,” Torreon said.

(We have clarified what the extradition process is, there is PD No. 1069, that is clear. The Supreme Court also issued extradition rules but there is no legislation, constitutional amendment or IRR on how to effectuate surrender.)

Torreon said a law or a constitutional amendment on surrender should be promulgated, given that the country has no clear procedures for the surrender process.

“Ang pinag-uusapan po natin dito karapatang pantao ng Pilipino. Hindi naman po po pwede na gayahin natin yung nangyari kay Tatay Digong, kidnapin lamang siya, at hindi na idaan dito sa korte at kaladkarin papunta sa Netherlands,” he said.

(We are talking about human rights. We cannot allow him to suffer the same fate as Tatay Digong, who was kidnapped, and brought to the Netherlands.)

“Wala tayong proseso dito. There must be a law. There must be even a constitutional amendment,” Torreon added.

(We have no process here. There must be a law. There must be even a constitutional amendment.)

Meanwhile, dela Rosa’s office remains operational even without the senator present.

“Yung ministerial functions naman nandyan yung staff niya. He can perform through his staff. But as to his personal presence, I do hope that the Filipino public will understand that what is at stake here is his personal safety already,” Torreon said.

(His staff can perform the ministerial functions for him but as to his personal presence, I do hope that the Filipino public will understand that what is at stake here is his personal safety already.)

Dela Rosa, as PNP chief during the Duterte administration, was the main implementer of the anti-narcotics campaign.

Duterte – who was arrested on March 11 – is currently detained at The Hague in the Netherlands where he is facing charges of alleged crimes against humanity before the ICC. — JMA, GMA Integrated News