📷: Karapatan / FB
Rights groups KARAPATAN and Hustisya react to statements made by the Philippine National Police that they see no need to put up wanted posters for Senator Bato dela Rosa. “Yet, when it comes to activists, critics, ordinary citizens, and the poor, terror-tagging, public vilification, and shaming seem to come far too easily. The police readily put up posters, streamers, and banners in various areas, promoting hatred and persecution against these individuals and communities,” said Atty. VJ Topacio, national board member of Hustisya and one of the relatives of those killed under the Rodrigo Duterte presidency, where dela Rosa was police chief.
“Let us not forget who we are talking about. Bato dela Rosa is a fugitive from justice, a former PNP chief with an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. He has evaded arrest and remains in hiding instead of facing the charges against him,” said Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general.
Both groups said that this is “the same man whose public conduct and statements have, time and again, drawn criticism for their arrogance and apparent contempt for accountability.” “The irony is glaring: a former police chief who once wielded the authority of the State now refuses to submit himself to legal process,” said Topacio.
For Palabay, the irony should not be lost on the PNP either. “People exercising their rights should not be treated as enemies of the State, while a powerful former official wanted under an actual arrest warrant is afforded extraordinary restraint,” Palabay explained.
As the trial at the ICC nears, families of victims of rights violations and rights defenders continue to demand that Bato must be held accountable for his actions.
“No position, political connection, or former title should shield him from accountability. A man who once commanded the police and now serves as a senator of the Republic cannot be allowed to place himself beyond the reach of justice,” Palabay said.
“As we, families of victims of killings remember our departed loved ones during this time, we reiterate our demand for the immediate arrest of Bato dela Rosa and for justice to be served, be it for victims of killings in the drug war, but also for slain activists and victims of rights violations perpetrated by State security forces under Duterte and dela Rosa,” Topacio ended.#
