No records of Bato dela Rosa leaving PH, says BI

There are no records of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa leaving the country through international entry and exit ports amid the ongoing search for him, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Sunday.

“That’s right. Doon sa ating international ports of entry and exit, wala tayong recently recorded na biyahe niya (Sen. Dela Rosa),” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told Super Radyo dzBB.

(That’s correct. At our international ports of entry and exit, there are no recent recorded travels of Senator Dela Rosa.)

Sandoval explained the BI continues to monitor the country’s international ports of entry and exit.

“Ang ating saklaw ay ang international ports of entries and exits. Ito 'yung mga paliparan natin, international airports. Pati 'yung seaports. Zamboanga International Seaport,” Sandoval said.

(Our scope covers the country’s international ports of entry and exit, including international airports as well as seaports such as the Zamboanga International Seaport.)

“Hindi saklaw ng BI 'yung bay areas. Ito ay binabantayan ng LGUs, PCG at pulisya,” she added.

(The bureau coverage does not include bay areas. These are monitored by local government units, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the police.)

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday said the senator remains in the country as authorities are set to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him.

Dela Rosa remains under an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order while facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity of murder.

In early May, acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said an ILBO has been issued against dela Rosa and ordered authorities to arrest the senator if he tries to leave the country, saying that the senator doing so was "a mockery of justice.”

Sandoval explained that an ILBO is used to monitor an individual and inform relevant government agencies about his whereabouts.

The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against dela Rosa for “alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator” of former president Rodrigo Duterte in the crimes against humanity of murder from July 3, 2016, until the end of April 2018, wherein at least 32 persons died.

The camp of Dela Rosa earlier maintained that although they recognize the existence of the arrest warrant issued by the ICC, they do not consider it enforceable in the Philippines.

Dela Rosa has been included in the list of defendants on the ICC website after the tribunal unsealed the arrest warrant against him for crimes against humanity, identifying him as “at large.”

The ICC noted that he was a police officer who held various positions in the PNP in the Davao Region, the position of chief of the PNP, and the position of director general of the Bureau of Corrections during the relevant time period.

He was absent from the Senate for the past six months after learning an arrest warrant had been filed against him. He once again disappeared after reappearing on May 11 to vote in a change of Senate leadership. —RF, GMA News