Senator Panfilo Lacson on Sunday urged law enforcement agencies to strengthen intelligence efforts to locate Senator Ronald 'Bato' dela Rosa, who is facing 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,” Lacson said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.(I advise law enforcement to improve their search efforts. The person was already there to be arrested, yet they still failed to catch him.)“Galingan ng NBI, galingan ng PNP o kung tutulong ang AFP, galingan nila ang intelligence work,” Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police, added.(The National Bureau of Investigation, the PNP, and even the Armed Forces of the Philippines, if it assists, should improve intelligence work.)Lacson said one tactical mistake may have been sending two female agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to serve the arrest warrant against Dela Rosa, which was not carried out.NBI Director Melvin Matibag earlier said Dela Rosa shoved two female agents who attempted to serve the ICC warrant before fleeing.Matibag also disputed Dela Rosa’s claim that he was tackled, saying the agents were about three meters away and could not have physically harmed him.Dela Rosa resurfaced on May 11 to participate in a vote on a change in Senate leadership before again disappearing from public view. He had been absent from the Senate for months amid reports that an arrest warrant had been issued against him.Lacson made the remarks when asked to comment on Dela Rosa being classified by the NBI as “armed and dangerous,” which the agency said is a precautionary designation routinely applied to individuals subject to warrant service.Matibag clarified that the “armed and dangerous” classification is a standard precaution applied to all subjects of a warrant.“Yung ‘armed and dangerous’ ang sinasabi namin dito; lahat naman po ng target o sine-serve-an ng warrant, ang aming point of view, we will always be ready baka armado ang ating subject,” Matibag said.(When we say "armed and dangerous," our point of view is that officers must always be prepared in case the subject of a warrant is armed.)“Bilang isang dating superior officer at directly nagtrabaho siya sa akin sa PAOCTF at sa pagiging chief PNP ako, galingan niyang magtago. Pero may advice din ako sa law enforcement, galingan niyong manghuli,” Lacson said.(As his former superior officer—having worked directly with me at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force and during my time as PNP chief—I’d say he should do a better job of hiding. But I also advise law enforcement to do a better job of making the arrest.)“Naiintindihan ko 'yung pinanggagalingan ni Senator Bato, kasi self-preservation 'yan,” he added.(I understand where Senator Bato is coming from because that is self-preservation.)The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Dela Rosa for his alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator with former president Rodrigo Duterte in crimes against humanity involving murder committed between July 3, 2016 and the end of April 2018, during which at least 32 people were allegedly killed.Dela Rosa’s camp has maintained that while it recognizes the existence of the ICC warrant, it does not consider it enforceable in the Philippines.The ICC has listed Dela Rosa as “at large” on its website after unsealing the warrant. The tribunal noted that he served in various police positions in the Davao Region, later became chief of the PNP, and eventually director general of the Bureau of Corrections during the period covered by the allegations.The Bureau of Immigration said no hold departure order has yet been issued against Dela Rosa, who remains covered only by an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order. It also said it has no record of him leaving the country through official international ports.—MCG, GMA News