One-week ultimatum for Dela Rosa’s surrender lapses Friday

MANILA —  A one-week ultimatum for Sen. Dela Rosa to turn himself in expires on Friday. 

The Philippines designated Dela Rosa last week as an “armed and dangerous” fugitive, offered a P50 million reward for his capture, and formed a police task force to find and detain him.

Task force leader PLtGen. Wilson Joseph Lopez said tracker continue to verify tips on Dela Rosa’s possible whereabouts.

He clarified that authorities have yet to identify any specific group allegedly sheltering Dela Rosa, despite earlier claims of a powerful group protecting the senator.

The PNP is also coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other law enforcement agencies to track Dela Rosa’s whereabouts and monitor possible escape routes.

Based on information provided by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Lopez said Dela Rosa has not left the country.

“Hindi fixed sa isang lugar. Napakarami kasi na locations. So we cannot divulge the areas because all of these are being subjected for validation,” he said.

The PNP also said it has yet to receive any feelers regarding Dela Rosa’s possible voluntary surrender.

Despite the expiration of the one-week ultimatum, Lopez said the police would remain open to the senator’s surrender.

“Hindi nagsasara ang ating pintuan para sa kanyang voluntary surrender. The door is always open,” he said.

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors have named Dela Rosa as one of eight “co-perpetrators” in the drug crackdown that killed thousands of drug suspects and drug users during the Duterte presidency.

The former national police chief has been in hiding since May, when officers attempted to serve an ICC warrant charging him with the crime against humanity of murder.

On Wednesday, Dela Rosa said the government bounty placed on his head put his life in “serious danger”, and asked the Supreme Court to stop his arrest.

“In law enforcement practice, the designation signals to operating units that armed resistance should be anticipated, which is precisely the setting in which lethal force is most likely to be used,” Dela Rosa said in a Supreme Court filing that he posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

“Coupled with a bounty and a declaration abandoning restraint, the designation places Petitioner Dela Rosa’s right to life…. in present and serious danger,” the 64-year-old said.

Dela Rosa had ceased attending Senate sessions months before the ICC unsealed a November 2025 arrest warrant against him in May.

He emerged from months of hiding on May 11 to take refuge inside the Senate building, but slipped out days later following a standoff between security guards and investigators attempting to arrest him during which shots were fired.

That same month, the Philippine Supreme Court rejected Dela Rosa’s bid for a temporary restraining order to prevent his arrest.

It still has to rule on his petition to have the ICC arrest warrant against him declared illegal.

Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11 last year and handed over to the ICC the following day.

The 81-year-old will stand trial on November 30 on charges of committing crimes against humanity during a crackdown on the drug trade.