Bato to Palace: Go ahead and arrest me, too
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is challenging the Marcos administration to also arrest and take him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) like it did to former President Rodrigo Duterte, his commander in chief when he led the Philippine National Police in implementing the ex-leader’s brutal war on drugs.
“If they want to make the same mistake again, then go ahead,” he told reporters in a phone interview on Thursday. “What they did to President Duterte was a very big mistake, and if they’re willing to do the same mistake again, then they can do the same.”
Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s first PNP chief, was reacting to remarks made by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in an interview with Japan’s Kyodo News on Wednesday.
Bersamin said that the senator would receive “treatment similar to what we did to Duterte,” who was arrested by the PNP in March following a warrant issued by the court in The Hague, the Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity.
Palace action defended
Dela Rosa was among 11 people who were implicated in the first case filed against Duterte in the deaths of thousands of suspected drug offenders.
President Marcos defended the actions of the police in arresting his predecessor, saying the PNP was merely complying with a request from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to take Duterte into custody.
Duterte was held for more than 12 hours at Villamor Air Base on his return from a trip to Hong Kong on March 11 before he was flown later that night to The Hague. He was then taken to the ICC detention facility on March 12 and has been held there since.
He is facing the charge of murder as a crime against humanity for the drug war killings.
His trial could begin as early as September.
A March 13 ICC document on his case showed Duterte had nine “coconspirators,” but their names were redacted.
There has been no information from either the ICC or the Interpol concerning more arrests, according to Malacañang.
“Right now, we have not yet received any communication if there is a warrant of arrest for the coperpetrators of former President Duterte,” said Undersecretary Claire Castro, the Palace press officer.
Kristina Conti, an ICC assistant to counsel, earlier told Inquirer.net that Dela Rosa and his successor as PNP chief, Oscar Albayalde, could be the next to receive arrest warrants from the ICC.
‘Operation Double Barrel’
As Duterte’s top cop, Dela Rosa issued Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016, also known as “Operation Double Barrel,” which was the operational framework for the nationwide drug war patterned after a similar campaign in Davao City when Duterte served as mayor.
It featured “Project Tokhang,” a house-to-house visit by police to persuade suspected drug users and small-time dealers to surrender or to stop their alleged illegal activities. Tokhang, however, became associated with the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.
The other “barrel,” “Project HVT” (high-value target), was focused on “massive and reinvigorated” operations against elements higher up the ladder of the illegal drug trade, such as drug manufacturers, traffickers and syndicates.
The former PNP chief refused to give details of his preparations for a possible ICC warrant against him.
Diversion
Dela Rosa said that his possible arrest by the ICC was being brought up by Malacañang to “divert” the public’s attention away from first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, who was allegedly with businessman Juan Paolo “Paowee” Tantoco in a hotel in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, when he died of supposed “cocaine effects” in March.
“They often do that whenever there’s an issue being thrown at Malacañang. Now there’s talk about what happened to the first lady, so now they’re making an issue about the ICC and the senator, in order to divert the issue,” Dela Rosa said.
Malacañang has said that the report that the first lady was with Tantoco at the time was “fake news” and that it was considering legal actions against groups and individuals spreading it.
The senator said he won’t attend the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 28 because he did not want to be “plastic” toward the administration.
“It wouldn’t make sense to go there frowning. That would be awkward, right? It also wouldn’t feel right to smile when deep inside I’m upset with them.”
‘Duterte7’
“I’d be pretending in front of congressmen I’m upset with. Not all of them, but there are congressmen—and some people in Malacañang—I’m disappointed with. So why should I pretend?” he added.
Dela Rosa said he had “no more expectations from this government.”
“I’m just hoping that they focus on making the Philippines better,” he said.
Asked whether his colleagues in the Senate’s pro-Duterte bloc, now called “Duterte7,” would also skip the Sona, Dela Rosa said boycotting the event was his personal decision.
“I don’t drag my colleagues. Whatever they want to do, they can do it. This is my personal decision. They have their own decision,” he said.
The Duterte7 has committed to support the continued leadership of Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero in the 20th Congress.
The bloc also includes Senators Christopher “Bong” Go, Robinhood Padilla, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos and siblings Mark and Camille Villar.
“So far it’s well-settled within the group in principle—we are going to support Senator Chiz Escudero as the Senate President,” Dela Rosa said.
The so-called veterans bloc, composed of Senators Vicente Sotto, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Loren Legarda, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Lito Lapid, is pushing for the reinstatement of Sotto as Senate president.
Dela Rosa said that while the pro-Duterte group was backing Escudero, they will field one of their own if Escudero withdraws from the race for leadership. The group could field either the President’s sister, Go, Marcoleta or Mark Villar for Senate president in case Escudero backs out. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
