MANILA, Philippines — Drawing from his own high-profile history as a fugitive from the law, a senior lawmaker is offering blunt, practical counsel to a colleague currently evading international justice. Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson repeated his unsolicited advice to the missing Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa: “Hide well.”
Speaking during a radio interview with Super Radyo dzBB on Sunday, May 24, Lacson emphasized that as dela Rosa’s former superior officer in the police force, his counsel is rooted strictly in professional familiarity and the basic human instinct for self-preservation.
The advisory follows a highly chaotic, unprecedented week at the Senate complex, where political maneuvers directly collided with international law enforcement actions:
[6-Month Disappearance: Nov 2025 – May 2026] ──► Dela Rosa Remains Hidden from Public View │ ▼ (The Short-Lived Return)[Senate Reappearance: May 11, 2026] ◄── Votes in Sotto Ouster & Cayetano Takeover │ ▼ [The Dawn Escape: 2:32 AM, May 14, 2026] ──► Slips Out of Building with Sen. Robin Padilla
Dela Rosa had suddenly resurfaced on May 11 to cast a crucial vote in the Senate leadership coup that replaced Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. However, before he could enter the session hall, he had to physically sprint away from National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents attempting to serve an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant naming him as a “co-perpetrator” in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
After a tense, multi-day standoff under temporary Senate protective custody, dela Rosa officially went on the run again, slipping out of the building’s parking garage inside Senator Robin Padilla’s vehicle before dawn on May 14.
Lacson clarified that he refuses to lecture dela Rosa on whether he should surrender to state or international authorities, pointing directly to his past ties to the fugitive senator:
“I’ve been there. I have no moral ascendancy to advise him to surrender. I will not do that. But [since I am] his former superior officer, he directly worked with me at the PAOCTF (Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force), and as a former chief PNP (Philippine National Police), he should hide well… It’s self-preservation. If he wants to surrender or if he wants to show that he’s ready to face the accusations against him, that’s his call.” — Sen. Ping Lacson
[ THE FUGITIVE PROFILE COMPARISON ]
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[ THE LACSON PRECEDENT (2010-2011) ] [ THE DELA ROSA REALITY (2026) ]
• Went into hiding for over a year after being linked to the • Wanted internationally by the ICC for alleged crimes against
Dacer-Corbito double murder case. humanity stemming from the drug war.
• Cleared of probable cause by the CA in March 2011. • The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)
• Maintained he acted legally under *Miranda v. Tuliao*. confirmed on May 22 that he is still within the Philippines.
Beyond his message to dela Rosa, Lacson—who spent his early career leading intelligence operations—offered tough, candid feedback to the state enforcement teams tasked with executing high-profile arrests. He criticized the NBI’s decision to serve the warrant directly on the volatile Senate floor as a severe tactical error.
[ TRACKER TEAM METRICS ]
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[ THE PRIME MOVER CRITERIA ] [ PHYSICAL COUPLING ERROR ]
• Lacson noted that "intelligence is the prime mover of any • Critiqued the deployment of two female NBI agents to
operation," warning that tracker teams are currently wasting physically serve the warrant inside the Senate.
resources due to poor coordination and planning. • *"If the one you are about to arrest is a man and has a big
build, you should assign people with the same build."*
The dragnet to locate the former police chief has now expanded into a multi-agency operation. While local police tracker teams map out domestic transit corridors, prominent figures in the Senate face mounting scrutiny. Allies of the past Senate majority are actively pushing to investigate Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Robin Padilla for potential obstruction of justice, keeping the upper chamber thoroughly entangled in dela Rosa’s ongoing multi-billion-peso political and legal storm.