NBI: Dela Rosa presumed armed, dangerous as search continues
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is already presumed to be “armed and dangerous” under existing protocols, as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) tries to locate the senator to serve the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), NBI chief Melvin Matibag said on Saturday.
This was Matibag’s response when asked if the agency already considers dela Rosa as armed and dangerous, as his whereabouts remain unknown after he slipped out of the Senate promises on May 14 following a shooting incident.
“It’s our standard protocol that if we’re doing an operation or locating a fugitive from justice, our presumption is that they’re already armed and dangerous,” Matibag said at the Saturday News Forum.
READ: NBI to turn over Bato dela Rosa to DOJ once arrested – Matibag
Last Thursday, the Department of Justice said that the arrest warrant from ICC may now be enforced against the senator, as it instructed the NBI and the Philippine National Police to arrest him in connection with his role in the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
On May 11, the ICC publicly confirmed the arrest warrant against him.
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said it found reasonable grounds to believe that dela Rosa was individually responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder under article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute committed between July 3, 2016 and the end of April 2018, during which no less than 32 persons were killed.
Matibag said that a dedicated team has been formed to search for the senator, who is now considered a “fugitive from justice.” He also instructed the agency’s district and regional offices to do their own monitoring within their respective areas.
“Our instruction to law enforcement, to our NBI agents, is to proceed with caution every time there are positive [leads] or even in areas of his suspected whereabouts. We have to be careful,” Matibag added.
READ: NBI chief to Bato dela Rosa: ‘Better for you to surrender’
Matibag also pointed out that as dela Rosa once served as the chief of the PNP, “he knows how law enforcers behave” and how he will be tracked.
He reiterated his appeal to the senator to surrender to the law enforcement agencies peacefully.
“But by the looks of it, it seems that he has no plans to surrender because he was already in the Senate but he slipped out,” he added. /das
