Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa was not arrested nor whisked away to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, the Netherlands, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Wednesday.
‘There has been a lot of speculation that he’s been arrested and he’s being whisked away to The Hague. That’s not true,’ Remulla told reporters in Quezon City.
‘We’ve coordinated with the DOJ. We’ve coordinated with the DILG, all law enforcement units, but Bato is still being hunted down,’ he noted.
Remulla made the statement following rumors circulating online that dela Rosa had been arrested and was already en route to the ICC.
The DILG chief previously said the Philippine National Police (PNP) had no information on claims that dela Rosa was already in the government’s custody.
However, Remulla emphatically said, ‘Categorically, as of 6 p.m. last night (Tuesday), there has been no arrest for Senator Bato.’
Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC over his alleged participation as former PNP chief in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs, which reportedly killed thousands of Filipinos.