MANILA: The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday it would apprehend a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court “without delay,” a day after a court rejected his petition seeking to block his arrest.
The justice minister earlier on Thursday gave the green light for law enforcement agencies to arrest Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the former police chief accused of crimes against humanity in his role as top enforcer of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs.”
“Fugitive Senator Dela Rosa will be arrested whether he likes it or not because we have to implement the law without fear or favor,” said Melvin Matibag, chief of the NBI, the Philippine equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Duterte, 81, who was president from 2016 to 2022, is in detention in The Hague after his arrest last year and will go on trial charged with crimes against humanity. He maintains his innocence.
LEADS ON SENATOR’S WHEREABOUTS
