Former Philippine National Police chief-turned-senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa slammed authorities for failing to present Duterte in a local court before flying him out of the Philippines.

“Isipin mo hindi man lang binigyan ng respeto ‘yung ating mga courts ‘no. Supposed to be kung talagang hinuli nila, dapat i-present muna nila sa court bago nila dalhin don sa ibang lugar, ibang bansa,” dela Rosa told reporters in a recent interview.

He added: “Alam mo, mas excited pa, mas interesado pa ‘yung Philippine government na mahuli si President Duterte kaysa ICC (International Criminal Court) at saka ‘yung sinsabi nilang INTERPOL.“

’Betrayal to the max’

Dela Rosa felt betrayed by the Marcos administration, noting the president’s previous commitments not to cooperate with the ICC.

“Betrayal to the max! Very vivid pa sa aking memory when he told me, nu’ng nag-usap kami sa Malacañang na never siyang mag-cooperate sa ICC,” Dela Rosa said, referring to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

He added: “Talagang sinabi niya sa akin, ’Hinding-hindi ako mag-cooperate sa ICC… Huwag kang mag-alala hinding-hindi ako mag-cooperate sa ICC dahil after niyo, who’s next? Baka kami na naman.’ ‘Yan ang sabi niya sa akin.“

Flimsy alibi

For Dela Rosa, Marcos’ explanation for authorizing Duterte’s arrest is a “flimsy alibi,” emphasizing that the chief executive could explicitly tell the International Criminal Police Organization that he won’t honor any orders from the ICC.

“As a president, you can reject outright [and say] ‘Sorry, we have commitment sa inyo, pero this time, hindi namin kayo pwedeng mapagbigyan dahil we do not recognize the jurisdiction of ICC sa aming bansa.’  Maintindihan naman ‘yan ng INTERPOL,” the Mindanaoan lawmaker said.

He said they were more interested in turning over Duterte right away and went straight away, too fast.

“Don't use that INTERPOL as an excuse. That's very shallow,” he said in Filipino.

Skipped HK campaign

Meanwhile, he said despite the much-needed support of OFWs in Hong Kong, he opted to skip the recent PDP-Laban visit to prepare the Supreme Court petition that sought to block Duterte’s arrest.

“Hindi kami magkasama sa Hong Kong. Di ba naiwan ako dito? All I did was ako ang tinask nila mag-asikaso sa legal. Kinoordinate ko ‘yung akung lawyer at tyaka ‘yung lawyers ni PRRD to come up with a petition for certiorari and prohibition,” he said.

According to Dela Rosa, he received some intelligence information on the possible implementation of warrants of arrest from the International Criminal Court against him and Duterte the night before his scheduled flight, but the former chief executive and other candidates were already in Hong Kong by then.

On Tuesday, Duterte and Dela Rosa filed a petition before the Supreme Court, asking to permanently prohibit the Philippine government from cooperating with the ICC.

Dela Rosa was Duterte’s chief implementor of his war on drugs, where at least 1.6 million drug users surrendered to the government.

The reelectionist senator expressed no regrets in leading Duterte’s drug war, believing that this is the best way to eliminate illegal narcotics, which cause the prevalence of crimes in the country.