The group protecting Sen. Ronald dela Rosa somewhere in Mindanao can be considered terrorists or criminals since Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that forcing to extract the senator could lead to loss of lives.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said he has no information on the group protecting dela Rosa but based on Remulla’s statements, the protectors could be dangerous.
“Wala akong detalye nung group pero parang lumalabas itong grupo ay mas matapang pa kaysa sa gobyerno at parang sila pa yung nakikipag negotiate, na may capacity to negotiate…Hindi tama yun dahil ang gobyerno ay di dapat nakikipag negotiate…lalo na kung terorista dahil kung armas ka at di ka naman authorized magkaroon ng armas, para ka ng teorista at criminal group,” Gatchalian said in an interview with dzBB radio.
He said the government must not come up with terms so that dela Rosa can surrender since doing so places the government in a weak position.
“Ang gobyerno ay di dapat nakikipag negotiate dito sa mga terrorist at criminal groups na parang mahina yung gobyerno…Di ko alam ang detalye ng grupong ito pero naiintindihan ko naman kung bakit di binibigay ang detalye dahil nga merong security reason,” Gatchalian also said.
Gatchalian said government law enforcement agencies must assure the safety of their men and dela Rosa if and when operations to arrest the senator in hiding are carried out.
“Importante na magkaroon ng maayos na pag aresto sa kanya. Sa mga naririnig kong reports lalo na sa DILG, mukhang meron talagang puwedeng karahasan na mangyayari na yun naman ang ayaw nating mangyari,” Gatchalian added.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he is hoping and praying for due process for dela Rosa if the arrest takes place.
“I sincerely hope and pray that should his arrest take place sooner or later, it will be carried our peacefully, without violence or tragedy. He (dela Rosa) has his faults, as well do, but whatever accusations he faces, he is entitled to due process, a fundamental right guaranteed to every Filipino, and for that matter, to every human being,” Lacson said on X.
Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court as a co-perpetrator in the bloody war on drugs of former president Duterte, who has been detained in The Hague since March last year.
The DILG has offered a P50-million reward for dela Rosa’s capture.
Lacson, in an interview with radio dwIZ on Saturday, said claims that the bounty on dela Rosa’s head and ultimatum for his surrender were timed to prevent dela Rosa from voting in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte were baseless.
He said it is just a product of wild imaginations.
“As it is now, dela Rosa is beyond the coercive power of the Senate. That was the ruling of the impeachment court: those who cannot be reached by its coercive power are not counted in the denominator,” Lacson also said.
Dela Rosa first went into hiding in November last year after the Ombudsman said a warrant had already been issued against him. He surfaced in the Senate on May 11 to vote for the Senate presidency of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
He vanished in the wee hours of May 14, hours after a shooting incident in the Senate.