The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is treating Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa as potentially “armed and dangerous” as law enforcement teams intensify efforts to locate the former Philippine National Police chief.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag said authorities are following standard fugitive-response protocols, which require agents to presume that a person being tracked may be armed, especially in cases involving former senior law enforcement officials with operational experience and security networks.
“This is a standard protocol that if we’re doing a search or locating a fugitive from justice, ang presumption namin lagi is armado ‘yan at delikado ‘yung magiging approach,” Matibag said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
“So ang instruction po natin sa ating mga law enforcement, sa ating mga agents, is to proceed with caution every time na halimbawa nag-positive na or even doon sa area na suspected na talagang nandoon siya is kailangan maging maingat po sa paghuli,” he added.
Matibag said Dela Rosa’s background as a former PNP chief makes the operation more sensitive and complicated.
“Especially Sen. Bato who used to be Chief of Police natin, a major law enforcement natin dito sa Pilipinas,” he said.
He added that the circumstances surrounding the earlier attempt to locate Dela Rosa at the Senate reinforced concerns that the senator may be armed.
“At the same time, what happened noong nandun tayo sa Senado, it shows ‘yung factor na ‘yan na maaring talagang armado po ‘yung tao na ito,” Matibag said.
The NBI chief said multiple tracking teams have been deployed to locate Dela Rosa. He also directed the agency’s district and regional offices nationwide to conduct parallel monitoring operations in their respective areas.
“We are getting leads every day na ang sinasabi is nandirito pa rin po siya sa Pilipinas. So we have dedicated a team, actually teams to track Senator Bato,” he said.
Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief and sitting senator, is being sought in connection with an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the Duterte administration’s drug war.
He had largely stayed out of public view for months amid the ICC controversy before briefly resurfacing at the Senate to cast a crucial vote during the chamber’s leadership change. Authorities said he later left the Senate premises and has since been the subject of tracking operations.
Dela Rosa continues to deny the wrongdoing.