SENATE President Sherwin Gatchalian has firmly rejected negotiations with the armed group allegedly harboring Sen. Ronald dela Rosa in Mindanao, insisting the government must not yield to unauthorized force.
Gatchalian made the statements after Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla said that law enforcement authorities are seeking to negotiate the turnover of dela Rosa-the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant-to avoid a violent clash. Remulla warned that a direct confrontation could cost ‘up to 10,000 potential deaths,’ though he did not provide a basis for that figure.
‘If this is an armed group, they are not authorized to possess weapons,’ Gatchalian said. ‘We should not be negotiating with them, because they certainly should not be more heavily armed than the government.’
While cautioning against negotiating with unauthorized groups, Gatchalian acknowledged the delicate nature of the situation and deferred to the DILG chief’s tactical judgment.
‘The most important thing is for the situation to remain peaceful and orderly. We want to avoid any incidents or accidents,’ Gatchalian added, steering clear of explicitly echoing Malacañang’s call for dela Rosa to surrender.
Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly anti-drug campaign. Duterte is currently detained at The Hague, the Netherlands, awaiting trial.
As Duterte’s first National Police (PNP) chief, dela Rosa implemented the ‘drug’ war that resulted in the killing of some 3,000 to 30,000 suspected drug traffickers, almost all of them mere users and small time pushers.