Like a thief in the night. This Biblical metaphor was exactly how Senator Ronald de la Rosa slipped back into hiding after appearing at the Philippine Senate after six months of being absent and gaining protective custody from an arrest order from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
De la Rosa left the Senate premises before dawn today after gunfire erupted in the Upper House last night. He resumes being a fugitive since the ICC issued an arrest order against him in November last year.
He is named a co-conspirator in the crimes of humanity trial against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague.
Here is a timeline of de la Rosa’s escape:
May 13
4 pm: Senator de la Rosa publishes video claiming he is about to be arrested by Philippine law enforcement agents; Senate staff were dismissed early.
5:08 pm: Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) general manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso requests National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) to send agents to help secure GSIS premises. GSIS owns the building where the Senate is using.
6:00 pm: NBI agents arrive at GSIS building.
7:15 pm: NBI and GSIS personnel drill holes at an access door between the GSIS and Senate. This was purportedly to put in more bolts to prevent Senate personnel from using the GSIS as a backdoor exit.
7:30 pm: Senate sargeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca tells reporters they will “arrest someone.” He proceeds to wear a bulletproof vest and carry an assault rifle. Other Senate security staff do the same. Philippine Marines enter the building with firearms.
7:46 pm: Multiple gunshots were fired at the second floor of the Senate building. Palace spokesperson Claire Castro said it was Aplasca who fired shots first. An alleged NBI personnel named Mel Oragon retaliates.
8:25 pm: Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Jonvic Remulla arrives at the Senate. After conferring with Senate Alan Peter Cayetano and some other senators, he emerged from the Senate building with Cayetano and Majority Floor Leader Senator Joel Villanueva to announce no one was hurt and that Senator de la Rosa wished to rest in his office.
May 14
2:30 am: Senator de la Rosa slips out of the Senate.
12:55 pm: Malacanang Palace holds press briefing with NBI director Melvin Matibag and Philippine National Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez, saying they are confirming swirling reports de la Rosa is gone. Matibag denies Oragon is a former employee of the Bureau; a volunteer/driver/force multiplier he says of Oragon.
1 pm: Cayetano arrives back at the Senate. Tells reporters he has yet to get official reports on de la Rosa’s escape.
2:15 pm: Cayetano holds another press briefing but refuses to comment on reports of de la Rosa’s absence from the premises.
Eventually, Cayetano confirms his ally has gone.
Who is de la Rosa?
Ronald de la Rosa, nicknamed “Bato” (stone), is a second-term senator. He was elected to the national post on the back of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s popularity. He is known for his blind devotion to the former president.
He was a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1986. He first gained notoriety as military leader of the anti-Communist vigilante group Tadtad, accused of atrocious human rights violations such as massacres and cannibalism.
A Duterte town mate, de la Rosa was appointed Davao City police chief while Duterte was mayor. It was when they reportedly formed and operated the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) that killed thousands of suspected drug dependents and political opponents.
When Duterte was elected Philippine president in 2016, he appointed de la Rosa as national chief of the entire Philippine National Police. Duterte and de la Rosa then nationalized the DDS and implemented a nationwide “war on drugs” that human rights groups said may have killed as many as 30,000 victims.
Duterte had been arrested in March 2025 and is awaiting actual trial by the ICC in The Hague. De la Rosa is named a co-conspirator and has been ordered arrested.
Mockery of justice
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) strongly denounced the Cayetano Senate leadership and the Marcos Jr. government for allowing the fugitive de la Rosa to escape and evade arrest from the ICC.
“Bato’s escape is a mockery of justice and reflects the entrenched impunity that allows notorious human rights violators like him to be shielded from accountability,” BAYAN said.
The group said the Senate leadership clearly colluded with Bato to distract public attention and prevent him from being arrested and delivered to the ICC for custody.
“First, they turned the Senate into a safe house for Bato, and then they conspired to allow him to escape instead of surrendering the suspect to law enforcement agencies. It is reprehensible that a Bato ally would raise a ruckus and rant about ethics over an alleged shouting incident, while casually connive to support a person charged with crimes against humanity,” BAYAN secretary general Raymond Palatino said.
Bayan called on the public to protest the “grand conspiracy” to undermine justice and sabotage the efforts to bring Bato and his co-conspirators to the ICC.
“The Senate and the Marcos Jr government must be held to account for their culpability in allowing the unrepentant Tokhang implementer to escape. We demand the immediate arrest of Bato and his co-conspirators, and their immediate hand over into the custody of the ICC,” it said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
