By GMA News
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Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro shot back at remarks calling efforts to arrest Senator Bato Dela as "persecution."
Castro instead urged the senator, who has been in hiding, to face his case before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“If your conscience is clear, you should not be afraid to face the case filed before the ICC,” Castro said in a statement in Filipino.
“We will not comment on the feelings of Senator Bato Dela Rosa’s wife because we respect her situation. However, her allegation that the senator’s arrest is an act of persecution is contrary to the truth,” she added.
Castro said complaints against Dela Rosa over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs had been raised as early as 2017.
Castro also urged the public to remember the victims of alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs), including poor people who were killed and allegedly had evidence planted against them.
She called for justice for those who were killed, oppressed and abused during the campaign.
“If no killings had occurred in connection with the EJKs, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s co-perpetrators would have no case to face before the ICC today,” Castro said.
Bato is in hiding after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant of arrest for him on November 6, 2025 in connection with the crimes against humanity case involving former President Rodrigo Duterte.
On Tuesday, his wife Nancy dela Rosa thanked her husband's supporters and said he is not the enemy of his friends and of the country.
"Thank you for helping me realize that there are millions who still believe and support him," Nancy said in a post on Facebook.
"I just pray that the powerful few who were also his friends would come to realize he is not their enemy nor the enemy of this state," she said.
Nancy also appealed to those in power not to use Bato for their personal agenda.
"Pls do not use him for your personal agenda. He has helped you in countless ways and he has done you no wrong personally. He needs your help, not your persecution," she added.—LDF, GMA News