Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas (left); Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa (Facebook)

Makabayan Senate slate bet Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas has chided Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa for saying that he now plans to evade arrest if and when the International Criminal Court (ICC) releases his warrant of arrest for crimes against humanity.

This development came just days after Dela Rosa said he was willing to join former president Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague in the Netherlands, the site of the ICC.

"Nanlambot na yata si Bato, takot na mahuli ng ICC (Bato appears to have gone soft, and is afraid to be caught by the ICC)," said Brosas, well aware of the irony of her remarks. After all, "bato" means rock in Filipino.

"His statement reveals the guilt and fear of someone who knows the gravity of the crimes committed under the drug war he implemented," Brosas said of Dela Rosa, a reelectionist under the Duterte-led Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party.

Elements of the International Police (Interpol) swooped in with the ICC's arrest warrant for Duterte last March 11 in Manila. He was flown to Netherlands before the day was over.

Since 2017, the United Nations (UN)-backed ICC had been looking into the thousands of drug war deaths under Duterte. Dela Rosa--Duterte’s former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and implementer of the war on drugs--is also a respondent in the crimes against humanity charge.

Brosas, a women's rights advocate, emphasized that Dela Rosa's contemplation of evading accountability exposes the hollowness of his previous tough stance.

"This is the same person who boasted about killing drug suspects and defended the drug war's brutality. Now that justice is knocking at his door, he's planning to run and hide. Nasaan na ang tapang niya ngayon? (Where did your courage go?)" Brosas asked.

Brosas urged the Marcos administration to immediately place Dela Rosa on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) watchlist to prevent him from fleeing the country.

“The Marcos Jr. administration must not allow Dela Rosa to do a Harry Roque or Alice Guo escape. Placing Dela Rosa on a watchlist is the bare minimum," she stated.

She stressed that the victims of the drug war, many of whom were women and children left without breadwinners, deserve justice.

"Hindi pwedeng puro tapang-tapangan lang noon, tapos ngayong panahon ng pagtutuos ay tatakbo na lang (You can't fake bravery and then run away when the day of reckoning comes). The families of the drug war victims, especially the women and children who continue to suffer from the loss of their loved ones, deserve to see justice served," she concluded.