The Philippine justice minister has ordered law enforcement to apprehend a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court and says authorities have leads on his whereabouts, a day after a court denied his bid to prevent his arrest.
Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, the former police chief and lead enforcer of former President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown on drugs, would be tracked down and anyone helping him evade arrest would "face consequences", Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said.
"Senator Bato is a fugitive from justice," he told a media conference on Thursday.
Vida did not elaborate on leads authorities had on the location of dela Rosa, who is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity.
The senator's lawyers said this week he was in the Philippines.
"We are pursuing this so that the ends of justice may be achieved," Vida said.
Dela Rosa made a dramatic return from six months of hiding and took refuge at the Senate for days before slipping away early on May 14, after a night of chaos and gunfire followed his appeal for help and claim that his arrest was imminent.
Dela Rosa denies incitement or involvement in any illegal killings during the "war on drugs" of Duterte's 2016-22 presidency, when thousands of users and alleged dealers were killed either in police operations or mysterious slumland shootings.
Duterte, 81, is in detention in The Hague after his arrest in 2025 and will go on trial charged with crimes against humanity.
He maintains his innocence.
Vida insisted the ICC's warrant for dela Rosa's arrest, dated November and unsealed on May 11, was enforceable despite the senator challenging its legality on the basis of the Philippines' 2019 withdrawal from the court's founding treaty.
The tough-talking dela Rosa, a loyalist of the former president's daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte, maintained his high profile in the Philippines by running for the Senate after leaving the police, where he still has allies.
Philippine National Police chief Jose Melencio Nartatez said the PNP took note of the justice ministry's directive and would perform its mandate under the law, but stopped short of saying it would arrest dela Rosa.
"The PNP likewise assures the public that all actions undertaken shall remain impartial, professional, and within the bounds of the law, with full respect for the constitutional rights of all parties concerned," Nartatez said in a statement.
