Palace dares Senator Bato to come out of hiding as counsel rejects ‘fugitive’ label

THE PALACE on Monday told Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity, to come out of hiding to prove his innocence.

Mr. dela Rosa, who returned from a prolonged absence to deliver a decisive vote to elect a new Senate leader, retreated into hiding after a Senate standoff last week — a conduct that prompted the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to brand him as a “fugitive from justice.”

Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro urged the senator to resurface if he is not guilty.

“It’s better as a former [police] chief and he knows that there is a valid arrest warrant issued by the ICC, and like what Senator [Robinhood C.] Padilla used to say, if there is no guilt, come out,” she told a briefing in Filipino. 

Mr. dela Rosa, the police chief of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, is seen as the architect of the bloody drug war.

The ICC last week unsealed an arrest warrant for the 64-year-old Mr. dela Rosa for crimes against humanity of murder, identifying him as an alleged indirect co-perpetrator of Mr. Duterte, who is currently detained in The Hague.

The warrant showed that judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I found reasonable grounds to believe the Duterte ally bore responsibility for the Philippines’ deadly “war on drugs,” covering incidents between July 2016 and end-April 2018 in which at least 32 persons were killed. Mr. dela Rosa earlier denied he ordered the killings of drug war victims, claiming that evidence held by the ICC was “fabricated.”

“So, who should be held accountable for this, if there are shortcomings and someone has violated the law, someone is fleeing or trying to flee, we Filipinos should also be critical of the actions of our public servants,” Ms. Castro added.

Meanwhile, the camp of Mr. dela Rosa on Monday denied that the senator is a fugitive from justice, saying the OSG’s comment was “legally baseless and unfair.”

“Senator dela Rosa is not a fugitive from justice. That characterization is legally baseless and unfair,” Israelito P. Torreon, counsel for Mr. dela Rosa told BusinessWorld via a Viber chat, but declined to comment on the senator’s current location.

“As to his current location, we cannot comment on such matter, but what we can say is that Senator dela Rosa has continuously sought relief from the Supreme Court and has not abandoned legal remedies,” Mr. Torreon said.

“Invoking the protection of the Constitution cannot be twisted into evidence of guilt or flight,” he added.

Mr. Torreon said that the OSG failed to address the central constitutional issue regarding which specific Philippine law authorizes the Executive to surrender a citizen to the ICC without a domestic warrant.

He argued that no accusation allows the Constitution to be bypassed, adding that accountability must proceed strictly through the law.

“There is no Philippine court-issued warrant against him, no local criminal case requiring his arrest, and no final judicial directive from any Philippine court ordering his surrender to the ICC,” he said.

“What is being questioned before the Supreme Court is precisely the legality of enforcing an ICC process inside Philippine territory without Philippine judicial authority,” he said.

Also on Monday, Duterte-allied Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), sent a formal message to Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida, demanding he retract statements suggesting Mr. dela Rosa would be arrested if he attempted to travel abroad.

“We are deeply concerned about your irresponsible statements to the media that you will have Senator dela Rosa arrested if he attempts to leave the Philippines,” Ferdinand S. Topacio spokesperson wrote in the party’s grievance letter dated Monday in Filipino.

The Justice chief last week announced that he had issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order against Mr. dela Rosa and ordered authorities to immediately arrest him if any attempts to exit the country are made. The Department of Justice (DoJ) has also said it considers the ICC arrest warrant valid.

In the letter, Mr. Topacio cited the Supreme Court ruling in Genuino v. de Lima, which affirmed that the DoJ has no power to issue hold-departure orders or restrict travel without a judicial warrant.

The party further argued that under Presidential Decree No. 1069 and recent court rules, an international warrant requires local judicial confirmation before it can be enforced against a Filipino citizen.

“Therefore, we also urge you to withdraw the blatant lies you have said that attempt to violate our Constitution and the jurisprudence that has existed so far,” the PDP said.

“We also warn that if anyone does the act you are planning, we will be forced to take legal action to hold you accountable for your sins,” they added — Chloe Mari A. Hufana and Erika Mae P. Sinaking