Remulla finds quiet in Iloilo, silence on Bato manhunt

By Jennifer P. Rendon

ILOILO CITY – Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said he flew to Iloilo to get away from the political noise in Metro Manila, and declined to discuss the manhunt for Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa during a visit here Wednesday.

Remulla led the turnover and blessing of 20 emergency response motorcycles for the Unified 911 program at the Police Regional Office 6 headquarters in Camp Delgado, Iloilo City, on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

He was accompanied by Interior Undersecretary and former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Philippine National Police chief Police Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., and Fire Chief Supt. Wilberto Rico Neil Ang Kwan Tiu, officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Remulla was expected to give his customary update on developments at the department when he took the podium. He begged off.

“Ayoko na magkwento tungkol sa Manila. Puro drama doon,” he said. (I do not want to talk about Manila anymore. It is all drama there.)

He said so much had been happening in the capital that he decided to fly to Iloilo instead.

“Ang daming nangyayari dun. Kaya sabi ko punta muna tayo ng Iloilo. Mababait ang mga tao dito. Mas tahimik at mas maraming magagawa,” he said. (A lot is happening there. So I said, let us go to Iloilo first. The people here are kind. It is quieter and there is more that can be done.)

He said there were people in Metro Manila pushing to have someone jailed, and others angling for a hospital stay.

“Meron ding gustong magpa-hospital. Ang daming drama doon. Nakakasawa,” he said. (There are also those who want to be hospitalized. There is so much drama there. It gets tiring.)

Remulla granted an interview with local media after the program.

Asked about the ongoing manhunt for dela Rosa, he refused to answer.

“Let’s leave it at that,” he said.

Manhunt background

Remulla said in an interview on One News’ “Storycon” on Tuesday that the government knew where dela Rosa was and was talking to the people shielding him. He said negotiations were underway with the senator’s protectors, whom he described as very powerful people.Dela Rosa’s legal counsel, Israelito Torreon, has denied any personal knowledge of the supposed negotiations or of the protectors.

Operatives of the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation have been hunting dela Rosa since May to serve an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest over his alleged role in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

The ICC unsealed the warrant on May 11, 2026, nearly six months after Pre-Trial Chamber I issued it under seal on Nov. 6, 2025.

The chamber found reasonable grounds to believe dela Rosa is criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of murder in the killing of no fewer than 32 people between July 3, 2016, and the end of April 2018.

The senator has been in hiding since May 14, when he was reported to have slipped out of the Senate premises to evade arrest.

PNP public information chief Col. Allen Rae Co said in a briefing in Camp Crame on Wednesday that the effort to arrest the senator had not slackened despite the reported negotiations, saying it would take as long as it takes.