The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered all law enforcement agencies to implement the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa for the case of crimes against humanity in connection with the bloody drug war of the past administration.

DOJ Secretary Fredderick Vida issued the order that covers the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) a day after the Supreme Court rejected the plea of Dela Rosa to intervene in the ICC arrest warrant implementation.

In announcing the go-signal to arrest Dela Rosa, Vida laid down issues that justified the order to run after the senator.

The first is the existing valid arrest warrant from the ICC as he was named as co-perpetrator of the bloody drug war and the second was that Dela Rosa was confirmed to have left the Senate which gave him protective custody.

Vida added that the third premise is that the Supreme Court did not grant the appeal of Dela Rosa for a temporary restraining order (TRO) while the fourth and last was the fact that the ICC warrant is enforceable.

“Based on all these four basic premises, I would like to confirm that the Philippine law enforcement agencies, which would include the PNP and the NBI are now tasked to effect the arrest of Senator Bato Dela Rosa,” said Vida.

DOJ spokesperson Rapahel Martinez said the Supreme Court decision not to grant the TRO cleared the way for the enforcement of the arrest warrant.

“The ICC warrant has always been valid and enforceable. The government recognizes it as valid and enforceable,” said Maritnez.

The problem, however, is that some senators questioned the ICC warrant and even granted protective custody to Dela Rosa after participating in the successful effort to oust Vicente Sotto III as Senate president.

Another factor that affected the supposed arrest of Dela Rosa was the legal remedies sought by Dela Rosa, which prompted the DOJ to stand down.

The reason, according to Martinez, is to respect the Senate as a co-equal branch of the government.

But with the High Court rejecting Dela Rosa’s appeal to intervene, Martinez said, “The directive now is to enforce it.”

Game on

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the entire police force will be mobilized to find and arrest Dela Rosa following the decision of Vida.

Remulla earlier told the Manila Bulletin that despite the Supreme Court ruling, they still have to wait for a go-signal from the DOJ being the lead on the matters relating to Dela Rosa.

“SOJ (Secretary of Justice) is lead. It is a legal matter which he has said over. We are operational within the bounds of the law. The ball is in his court (Vida),” said Remulla.

This was also the position of PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr. who said that the DOJ is in the better position to decide on the matter.

“We in the PNP are not the sole decision-maker on this particular issue. There are still legal matters involved so we are waiting for the final guidance of the DOJ in relation to the recent decision of the Supreme Court,” said Nartatez.

With the SC ruling, Remulla said the hunt will begin.

Asked if the PNP will still mobilize 10,000 policemen to run after Bato, Remulla said, “It’s 225,000. That’s the entire PNP.”

Exit points

Nartatez, for his part, has alerted the personnel of the Maritime Group and the Aviation Security Group against any attempt of Dela Rosa to leave the country.

So far, Nartatez said their coordination with the Bureau of Immigration revealed that there is no record of travel of Sen. Dela Rosa outside the country.

Police forces, however, were alerted to be on the lookout and to intensify intelligence monitoring on all exit points, including the southern backdoor.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag, on the other hand, said leaving the country is not good for Dela Rosa as there are 122 countries which have committed support to the ICC.