Tracker teams now deployed in every region, but police say ‘the door is always open’
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has launched an all-out manhunt for Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa after the one-week deadline for his voluntary surrender lapsed on Friday, October 30, 2026.
Lt. Gen. Wilson Joseph Lopez, who heads the police task force pursuing the senator, said tracker teams have been formed in all regions on top of the group working from national headquarters. Police are also coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies to monitor possible escape routes.
Speaking at a briefing in Camp Crame, Lopez said the PNP hotlines have been flooded with tips on Dela Rosa’s whereabouts since the government offered a P50-million reward for his arrest. Each lead is still being validated, and police declined to name the areas being checked.
“Until now, we don’t have a specific group that is coddling Sen. Dela Rosa,” Lopez said, even as the PNP continues to validate reports that the senator is being protected by an armed group in Mindanao.
Based on Bureau of Immigration records, Lopez said Dela Rosa has not left the country. He added that the senator has not sent any feelers about surrendering, and that police will exercise “maximum tolerance” when serving the warrant to avoid a violent confrontation.
Despite the lapsed deadline, the PNP said it is still open to a peaceful surrender. “Hindi nagsasara ang ating pintuan para sa kanyang voluntary surrender. The door is always open,” Lopez said.
Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which names him as a co-perpetrator in the crime against humanity of murder linked to the Duterte administration’s drug war. He has been in hiding since May.
Earlier this week, the senator said the bounty on his head put his life in “serious danger” and asked the Supreme Court to stop his arrest. Malacañang, for its part, said on Thursday that his world is “shrinking.”