Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday urged law enforcement agencies to intensify their intelligence operations to track down Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who remains at large following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Ang payo ko sa law enforcement, galingan nila ang paghahanap. Nandiyan na, huhulihin pero hindi nahuli, (My advice to law enforcement is to do a better job in their search. He was already there, supposed to be arrested, but they failed to catch him,)” Lacson said in a radio interview.
“Galingan ng NBI, galingan ng PNP o kung tutulong ang AFP, galingan nila ang intelligence work, (The NBI should do better, the PNP should do better, or if the AFP is going to help, they should do better with their intelligence work,)” the veteran lawmaker added.
Lacson pointed out a tactical misstep in the initial arrest attempt, questioning the deployment of only two female agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to serve the warrant against the former top cop.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag previously clarified that Dela Rosa allegedly shoved the two female agents who attempted to serve the ICC warrant before making his escape.
Matibag firmly denied Dela Rosa’s subsequent claims of being tackled, countering that the operatives were positioned about three meters away from the senator and were not close enough to inflict any physical harm.
Dela Rosa briefly reemerged on May 11 to cast his vote during a Senate leadership change, only to vanish from public view once again. Prior to his sudden appearance, he had been absent from legislative sessions for months following reports of the active ICC warrant against him.