Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla warned on Tuesday that an attempt to arrest Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa could trigger unrest similar to the 2017 Marawi siege and result in as many as 10,000 deaths.
During a press briefing, Remulla said authorities were negotiating with a group protecting the senator in Mindanao to secure his peaceful turnover and avoid a violent confrontation.
“He is in Mindanao. He is under the protection of a group. We are currently initiating conversations for his turnover to the authorities,” he said.
Asked why authorities needed to negotiate despite having resources to carry out an arrest, Remulla said he would rather pursue talks than risk Filipino lives.
“In exchange for hanggang sampung-libo ang pwedeng mamatay. I would rather negotiate first than cost the lives of my Filipinos in this,“ Remulla said.
“You don’t always solve problems with a hammer. Sometimes you solve things better in a more peaceful and humane way,” he added.
Remulla said the senator was being protected by an armed group and warned that an arrest operation could trigger unrest similar to the 2017 Marawi siege, with extremist groups potentially taking advantage of the confrontation.
“It can be worse. Because the money is so large. Ang laki na pera. So they're willing to protect it. And it might ignite similar to Marawi, extremist groups to take advantage of the situation,“ Remulla said.
Remulla said authorities were trying to prevent other groups from exploiting the situation and destabilizing the region.
“So we have to handle this delicately,” he said.
Dela Rosa is wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
