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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Bato told: Resign if you just plan to wait and hide

Bato told: Resign if you just plan to wait and hide

Published Jan 23, 2026 03:25 pm

At A Glance

  • Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co has advised Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa to simply resign, if all he's going to do is wait and hide for the supposed release of his arrest warrant from The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co (left), Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa (Facebook)
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co (left), Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa (Facebook)


Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co has advised Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa to simply resign, if all he's going to do is wait and hide for the supposed release of his arrest warrant from The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
"Kung mag-aabang lang si Sen. Bato na maaresto siya, maiging magbitiw na siya bilang Senador (If Senator Bato is only waiting to be arrested, then he should resign)," Co said in a statement Friday afternoon, Jan. 23.
"Di natin dapat paswelduhan ang pagtakas sa pananagutan. Maniningil ang kabataan ng hustisya kahit saan pa siya magtago (We should not be paying for his escape from accountability. The youth will demand justice no matter where he hides)," added the congresswoman from the Makabayan bloc.
Dela Rosa, who is in hiding, celebrated his 64th birthday last Wednesday, Jan. 21. He last attended a session at the Senate in November 2025.
"I am waiting, Waiting, for a true seeking for justice to emerge and take over. Not this threat of fake and foreign meddling, from those who do not and can never know us or be us," the senator said in his birthday post on Facebook.
"If indeed there are cases against me, then I wait for a time and a certainty that I shall be able to face these cases as a Filipino, before Filipinos," said Dela Rosa, who served as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief under the previous Duterte administration.
“If I would just agree to be arrested and tried [in] a foreign court, then I would be taking for granted the struggles that our heroes and soldiers had done for our freedom. I will never put to waste the blood and sweat of the Filipinos who fought for the Philippines. This is patriotism,” he added.
To these remarks, Co said: ""Nagtatago ka dahil mahal mo ang sarili mo hindi ang Pilipinas. Hindi naman ikinaligtas ng mangingisda natin mula sa panggigipit ng Tsina ang pagtatago mo mula sa hustisya."
(You're in hinding out of love for yourself, not for the Philippines. Our fishermen were not spared from China’s harassment by your hiding from justice.)
"Balewala ang pinaglaban ng mga bayani natin kung makakatakas sa pananagutan ang mga pinuno tulad mo na nanguna sa pagpaslang ng libo-libong kapwa mahihirap na Pilipino. Ang patriotism ay mula sa sakripsyo at serbisyo, hindi sa pagkapit sa pwesto," underscored the assistant minority leader.
(The struggles of our heroes mean nothing if leaders like you, who led the killing of thousands of poor Filipinos, can evade responsibility. Patriotism comes from sacrifice and service, not from clinging to power.)
Co was referring to allegations of Dela Rosa's hand in the killings during former president Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs.
In March 2025, Duterte was served an ICC warrant in connection to the drug war deaths. He has been incarcerated at The Hague in the Netherlands ever since.
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