Bato on evading ICC arrest: ‘I have to survive’

From donning a disguise to planning strategies, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Tuesday said he has had to be “flexible” in the face of a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, maintaining that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. changed his position on the issue.

“Nagbago nga si President Marcos ng stand, di ba? Ako pa ‘di magbago ng stand? Dapat flexible ka, huwag kang magpa-fix diyan dahil panahon ng kagipitan ngayon. Marunong dumiskarte dapat,” Dela Rosa told reporters in a phone interview. 

(President Marcos changed his stand, right? Why wouldn’t I? I should be flexible because this is a time of persecution. I need to be strategic with my actions.)

“Bakit niyo kine-kwestyon kung magbago ako? Diskarte ko ‘yan, di ba,” he added. 

(Why are you questioning my change in position? That’s my strategy.)

Asked what he will keep in mind as he plans to evade arrest should a warrant be issued against him, Dela Rosa replied, “‘Huwag patanga-tanga.” (Not to be stupid.)

Not expecting ‘justice’

Dela Rosa said he is no longer expecting justice from the Marcos administration following former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest on an ICC warrant two weeks ago. 

“The way they treated the former president, I don’t think so,” he said.

In a separate statement, Dela Rosa said planning several options in dealing with the anticipated arrest warrant is part of his survival. 

“Sana maintindihan ninyo [I hope you understand]. I have to survive. I have to survive all these trials that are thrown before us,” he said. 

“Kailangang kung ganito katuso ang gobyerno na kaharap mo, kailangang marunong ka rin mag-adjust,” he added. 

(If the government is this deceitful, you should know how to adjust.)

Dela Rosa earlier said that then-presidential candidate Marcos promised him that the ICC would not be able to touch even a single strand of his hair.

The reelectionist senator recently said he is considering hiding and not surrendering if the ICC issues a warrant against him.

Initially, Dela Rosa said he would be willing to submit himself to authorities and join Duterte in The Hague.

Not on ICC warrant

Dela Rosa said that he will not let the authorities arrest him with a warrant from the ICC.

“Kung ang hawak nilang warrant of arrest ay issued by local court, ‘yan pwede ako magpaaresto. Pero kung ang hawak nila na warrant of arrest ay galing sa ICC, hindi ako magpaaresto,” he said. 

(If their warrant of arrest is issued by a local court, I will let them arrest me. But if their warrant of arrest is from the ICC, then I will evade arrest.)

“Kung maipit ako, e di maaresto nila ako. Pero kung hindi nila ako maipit, hindi nila ako maaresto,” he added. 

(If they can capture me, then they can arrest me. But if not, then they won’t.)

Dela Rosa reiterated that he will not leave the Philippines. 

But when the time comes that he will hide from authorities, the senator said he will not seek refuge in the mountains. 

“Magsisiyudad. Bakit ka mamundok? Siyudad,” Dela Rosa said. 

(I’ll stay in the city. Why would I go to the mountains?)

Asked if he will also hide inside his ally Apollo Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound, Dela Rosa laughed and said “Secret. Kasama ‘yan sa diskarte ko.” 

(Secret. That’s part of my strategy.)

Recognizable

The senator also said that he tried to don a disguise in Bicol, but that didn’t work. 

“Nag-try lang ako. Bumaba ako sa sasakyan kasi bibili ako sa 7-Eleven ng mainom. Bumaba ako bandang Bicol. Pagbaba ko naka-jacket ako nag-cap tapos naka-mask,” he said. 

“Nakita ako ng isang tao doon sa Bicol. Ang sabi sa akin ng tao nagbebenta sa Bicol ng kamote, ‘Kilala kita, si Bato ka.’ Wala na, patay na. Kaya napilitan ako bumili ng tinitinda niyang kamote. Dahil magiingay man na andun ako, nakita ako eh,” he added. 

(I tried to do a disguise one time. I went to a convenience store near Bicol to buy some drinks. I was wearing a jacket, a cap, and a mask. The person who was selling sweet potatoes was able to identify me. So I had no choice but to buy from them because they would have told others that I was there.)

So far, Dela Rosa said he has no information about any warrant of arrest against him from the ICC. 

He added that he is not meeting others named as co-accused in the ICC case on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. 

Campaign continues

With no warrant of arrest released against him, the reelectionist senator said he is continuing his campaign activities.

“Wala namang warrant, bakit ko i-limit ang sarili ko? Pag may warrant na, e di yun na,” he said. 

(There’s no warrant. So why will I limit my movements. When the arrest warrant comes, then that’s it.)

Earlier in the day, Dela Rosa said his security detail in Davao City has been recalled by the PNP.

According to Dela Rosa, his former colleagues and former subordinates in the PNP offered to replace his security detail after the development. 

Dela Rosa, who earlier described himself as the number two accused in the ICC investigation on Duterte’s drug war, served as the chief of the Philippine National Police when the former president launched his campaign against illegal drugs. 

Duterte arrest

Duterte is currently in ICC’s custody in The Hague, Netherlands after Philippine authorities served the warrant of arrest against from the international tribunal.

In a press briefing late in the evening of March 11, Marcos said the arrest was done “because Interpol asked us to do it and we have commitments.”

During Duterte’s term in 2019, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, after the tribunal started a probe into his drug war

According to the arrest warrant, the ICC pre-trial chamber found reasonable grounds to believe he was "individually responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder" in connection with the killings blamed on his war on drugs.

It stated that the Duterte Death Squad (DDS) and Philippine law enforcement personnel under his leadership targeted persons allegedly involved in drug-related criminal activities.

Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights groups have refuted this and say that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings. — BM, GMA Integrated News