Bato dela Rosa admits: ‘I am afraid of going to jail’

FILE PHOTO: Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, one of the principal respondents in the complaint for crimes against humanity filed in the International Criminal Court in 2017, says he is afraid of going to jail as he is anxious that he may not see his grandchildren if it happens. VIDEO GRAB FROM SEN. RONALD “BATO” DELA ROSA FACEBOOK PAGE

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa admitted he is afraid of going to jail, anxious that he may not see his grandchildren if it happens.

His remarks came as speculations abound that investigators of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are already in the Philippines. The ICC had launched a probe into the bloody “drug war” during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration when dela Rosa served as head implementer as the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

In a televised interview on Wednesday, dela Rosa maintained that he did not do anything wrong during Duterte’s brutal anti-drug campaign.

Asked why he is concerned about reports that ICC investigators have already started probing in the Philippines, dela Rosa answered: “Ikaw, hindi ka ba takot na mapasok sa kulungan?” (Aren’t you afraid of going to jail?)

“Bakit, lahat ba ng nakakulong ngayon ay talagang may kasalanan? Hindi naman. Hindi ako takot na sabihin mo na meron akong na-commit na kasalanan. No. Takot ako na makulong dahil kawawa ang mga apo ko at hindi ko na makikita,” he also said in an interview over ANC.

(Why are all those in prison now really guilty? Not really. I am not afraid that you will say I have sinned. No. I’m so scared of going to jail because I pity my grandchildren, and I won’t be able to see them anymore.)

READ: PNP: No confirmed reports on ICC’s ‘drug war’ probe in PH

“’Yun lang ang akin. Buti kung makulong ka lang dito sa Pilipinas, [eh kung] ikukulong ka doon sa The Hague? Paano makakabisita ngayon ang apo mo? They will grow up lolo-less. Kawawa naman ang mga apo ko. I love my apo so much,” he emphasized.

(That’s my concern. It’s better if you’re just imprisoned here in the Philippines [what if] you’re imprisoned there in The Hague? How can your grandchild visit? They will grow up grandfatherless. My poor grandchildren. I love my grandchildren so much.)

Dela Rosa is among the respondents in the crimes against humanity complaint before the ICC.

Talks about the ICC’s drug war investigation resurfaced after former senator Antonio Trillanes bared that  probers have allegedly gathered sufficient evidence against former President Duterte and that a warrant of arrest against him may be issued “very soon.”

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his administration “will not lift a finger to help any investigation that the ICC conducts.”