FIRING LINE: Between Bato and a hard place

FIRING LINE: Between Bato and a hard place

By Robert B. Roque Jr. l November 3, 2026

Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) sealed its warrant on Nov. 6, 2025, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has made fools of his hunters. He resurfaced at the Senate on May 11 and slipped out on May 13–14 with Sen. Robinhood Padilla’s help, amid gunfire investigators suspect was staged. He then shrugged off the Supreme Court’s May 20 denial of his temporary restraining order (TRO) plea.

Then, five months later, on October 23, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) dangled a ₱50-million bounty. Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. branded Dela Rosa “armed and dangerous” and gave him until October 29 to surrender.

DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla stole some thunder by talking tough about mustering a PNP force of thousands to corner one man. Playing second fiddle, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag warned of the “possibility of an armed encounter” if Bato does not surrender.

Together, along with Malacañang, they sprinkled media headlines with bounty justifications, the deployment of tracker teams, the Special Action Force (SAF), a probe into his enablers, threats against harborers, and leaked that Bato is hopping between Mindanao safehouses. They said they know who helped him, where he had been, and where he might be headed.

All these said the same thing: the net is closing, and the man is practically cornered.

Yet their ultimatum lapsed on October 30, and where is their prime catch? Unfound and unfazed. Obviously, authorities know everything except where he is. With every resource at its disposal, including intelligence units, troops, informants, and a stack of legal filings, this government is nearly a year into the hunt with nothing to show. Zilch. Nada. Zero.

Meanwhile, Filipinos keep telling government what they need. In Pulse Asia’s September survey, 35% want cheaper food, rising to 55% among the poorest Class E. Seventy-one percent want inflation controlled, now at 7.2%, a three-year high. Another 26% want jobs and livelihood, 24% want corruption eradicated, and 15% want accessible education and health care.

Two months after that survey, the situation is worse. The government owes the nation relief on rice, meat, and fish while the dollar-peso rate hits records. It also owes them a clean 2027 budget — something already exposed for alleged billions in insertions.

The Senate found that Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects ballooned from 11,420 to 16,244, including 6,271 unvetted insertions. A good number of senators have been vocal about their disgust, vowing to weed them out and purge them openly, before plenary debates begin.

So, going back to Bato and the headlines being pushed to the front pages — I’m starting to doubt it’s ever really been about catching him. A hunt that has yielded nothing in a year and overshadows the bigger concerns of the nation is more like a smokescreen for this government’s biggest failures on prices, jobs, and pork.

Those failures are the more essential things to talk about and bring government to account for than a fugitive who is, perhaps, harder to place now than Day 1 of the hunt.

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