By Mark Joseph M. Sanchez and Erika Mae P. Sinaking, Reporter
INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” C. Remulla, Jr. on Wednesday said Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa was last seen in Mindanao, following widespread online speculation on Tuesday that he had been arrested.
“Mindanao area,” Mr. Remulla told reporters when asked about the senator’s last known location.
He also refuted unverified social media claims that Mr. dela Rosa had been taken into custody, saying authorities had verified the reports and found no basis for them.
“We would like to confirm categorically that as of 6 o’clock p.m. last night, there’s been no arrest for Senator Bato,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of speculation that he had been arrested and was being whisked away to The Hague. That is not true,” Mr. Remulla added in mixed English and Filipino.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida on Wednesday said his office had no information on the reported arrest of Mr. dela Rosa.
“Zero on that matter,” he told reporters in mixed English and Filipino, adding that the issue is “a law enforcement matter at this time.”
The Department of Justice (DoJ) earlier said it also had no information indicating that Mr. dela Rosa had been arrested.
“We can’t confirm that information. We have not received any information that such an incident has occurred,” DoJ spokesman Raphael Niccolo “Polo” L. Martinez told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino on Tuesday.
Mr. Remulla said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) had coordinated with the DoJ and law enforcement agencies to verify the rumors.
“We coordinated with the DoJ; the DILG coordinated with all law enforcement units. Senator Bato is still being hunted down.”
He also said authorities would publicly disclose any arrest and follow the proper legal process.
“We don’t conduct secret operations that the public wouldn’t know about,” he said. “We have always been transparent about what we do.”
Mr. dela Rosa is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity over his role in former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s deadly anti-drug campaign.
The senator had been absent from Senate sessions since November 2025 amid reports that the ICC had issued a warrant for his arrest. He resurfaced on May 11 to cast the decisive 13th vote that installed Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano as Senate president, after which he was placed under Senate protective custody.
Two days later, tensions escalated after authorities tried to serve the ICC warrant at the Senate, triggering a shooting incident. Mr. dela Rosa later left the Senate compound in the early hours of May 14 and has since gone into hiding.
Malacañang also rejected rumors that Mr. dela Rosa had been arrested, calling the reports a “diversionary tactic” meant to draw public attention away from audit findings involving Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio’s use of confidential funds.
“The motive is apparent in this diversionary tactic employed by VP Sara’s allies,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told reporters in a Viber group chat in Filipino. “Let us be discerning… Mainstream media remains the primary source to trust for verified news.”
In a social media post on Tuesday, former Presidential Spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr. claimed that someone might have betrayed Mr. dela Rosa following rumors that the senator had been captured.
Mr. dela Rosa’s lawyer James Patrick “Jimmy” R. Bondoc also posted that “bad news is coming” in a separate Facebook post.
Ms. Castro said law enforcement agencies had no verified information confirming that Mr. dela Rosa had been arrested.
“It is evident that the claims being circulated by Atty. Bondoc and Roque regarding Senator Bato lack substance and context,” Ms. Castro said in Filipino.
“Their actions are a matter of timing — intended to overshadow the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) revelations concerning the undocumented expenditure of millions of pesos in confidential funds by VP Sara at the Office of the Vice-President and Department of Education,” she said.
Ms. Castro was referring to CoA observations on the Office of the Vice-President’s and Department of Education’s use of confidential funds.
The audit agency earlier flagged deficiencies in the submission of supporting documents for portions of the confidential fund disbursements.