MANILA, Philippines – After being out of the public eye and amid speculations about his whereabouts, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa appeared during a pro-Duterte rally in Manila on Saturday night, March 15.
Dela Rosa, wearing a green shirt that read “bring him (Duterte) home,” spoke before thousands of Duterte supporters gathered at the Liwasang Bonifacio on Saturday to criticize President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s cooperation with Interpol.
“Ano ginawang basis ni Pangulong Marcos? Interpol! Bullshit! Ako, naging PNP (Philippine National Police) chief ako, alam ko ang papel ng Interpol sa mundo! Commitment sa Interpol? Bullshit! Presidente ka ng Pilipinas, magpa-pressure ka sa Interpol? Ha?” the PNP-chief-turned-senator said.
“Ang lumalabas, mas gigil na gigil, mas atat na atat sila kaysa sa Interpol, sa ICC (International Criminal Court). Bakit?…. Sinong sineserbisyuhan niya? Mga dayuhan, hindi ang Filipino people?” the longtime Duterte ally added.
(What was President Marcos’ basis? Interpol! Bullshit! I was once a PNP chief, and I know Interpol’s role in this world! Commitment to Interpol? Bullshit! You are the president of the Philippines, why did you allow Interpol to pressure you? As it turned out, the government was more eager, more excited than Interpol and the ICC. Why? Do they serve foreigners and not the Filipino people?)
Duterte was arrested on Tuesday, March 11, over crimes against humanity by virtue of an ICC warrant issued by an all-women panel. Contrary to Dela Rosa’s claim, commitment to Interpol doesn’t necessarily mean the government has prioritized foreigners over its citizens.
The Philippines is part of Interpol so it has obligations to fulfill. It has also benefited from the organization, like when it requested the arrest of fugitive Arnie Teves in Timor-Leste. Although the Philippines is not an ICC-member state, the warrant was coursed through Interpol, so the country acknowledged its obligation under the police organization.
In addition, the ICC has repeatedly reiterated that it retained its jurisdiction over the Duterte case since the alleged crimes — from November 1, 2011, to March 16, 2019 — happened when the Philippines was still part of the court.
It was also Dela Rosa who filed a petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) with the Supreme Court, on behalf of Duterte, to prevent his arrest and send-off to the Netherlands. He was unsuccessful, however, because the court junked his TRO plea, citing the lack of “clear and unmistakable right for the immediate issuance of a TRO.”
As Duterte’s inaugural PNP chief, Dela Rosa was the first to implement the former president’s drug war that killed nearly 30,000 people, based on human rights groups’ tallies. The senator has been named in previous ICC communications, and he even confirmed that the court had reached out to him but that he chose to ignore the notices.
At the height of Duterte’s arrest, most of the former president’s allies were present, including his longtime aide, Senator Bong Go. However, Dela Rosa did not show up the whole day his former principal was held inside the Villamor Air Base, fueling speculations he was in hiding. It was only a day after Duterte’s arrest when Dela Rosa broke his silence.
“If all legal remedies are exhausted and still justice is to no avail, then I don’t want my family to suffer from cops looking for a heartbeat. I am ready to join the old man, hoping that they would allow me to take care of him,” Dela Rosa said in a Facebook post on Wednesday, March 12.
The former PNP chief, who once said that collateral damage in drug war operations cannot be avoided, has also appealed to Senate President Chiz Escudero not to surrender him to the authorities in the event the ICC orders his arrest. – with reports from Paterno Esmaquel II/Rappler.com