PNP assures ‘dedicated, select team’ readied to arrest Dela Rosa

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday assured that a “dedicated team” with “select members” is prepared to arrest Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his alleged involvement in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, which killed up to 30,000 people, according to human rights groups.

Asked about concerns that some police officers find it difficult to arrest their former superior, in an interview on DZMM on Tuesday night, PNP operations director Brig. Gen. Ponce Rogelio Peñones Jr. said, “Internally, we’re looking at these situations.”

READ: ‘Soft’ on Dela Rosa ICC arrest order? PNP insists no special treatment

“That’s why we purposely created a really dedicated team just to arrest him and to monitor him… This is a select group of people. In the PNP, we have special units where, internally, of course, if you know they’re associated with a target, why would you use them there?” he added.

Multiple operations were launched by the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the past week to locate Dela Rosa, including two in Parañaque City and one each in Bulacan and Pampanga, but all have failed to find him.

READ: PNP open to NBI probe on possible cop behind fake tip on Dela Rosa

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., on several occasions, maintained that the law enforcement agency would not give special treatment to Dela Rosa.

Pressed on whether the PNP would conduct a lifestyle check to ensure none of the arresting officers would be aligned with Dela Rosa, Peñones answered, “Our CI is very strong, our counter-intelligence, in which we check all our personnel’s associations.”

“That’s part of the work of the PNP, to check, among the personnel, who may be deployed, who can’t be deployed, who might be straying away, who might tip them off. We’re looking at all of that,” he added. /cb