Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Bato dela Rosa has lost his capacity for reason. There is no warrant of arrest yet from the Interpol for his leading participation in Rodrigo Duterte’s murder pogrom, yet he already is in hiding. That is congruous to an admission of guilt.
He has not studied the history of the most infamous Filipino fugitives of all time: no one but no one can hide forever. It belies the 32 years of law enforcement he spent in the Philippine National Police, that no one is a fugitive for eternity. After hiding comes the hard part: public humiliation.
Romeo Jaslosjos, the congressman accused of statutory rape (2 counts) and lascivious acts (12 counts), hid for 23 days until police cornered him in an island off Bagac, Bataan in January 1997. Panfilo Lacson hid for 13 months before he had to surrender to authorities to face the double murder charges against him.
The actor of astig roles Robin Padilla was said to have hid in the mountains of Camarines Norte for 45 days after he was issued an arrest warrant for illegal possession of firearms. The incident came about when Padilla was a hit-and-run driver caught in Angeles City.
So where is Bato dela Rosa playing his current role as an anticipated fugitive from justice even if his arrest warrant has not materialized yet?
Former senator Antonio Trillanes revealed in Christian Esguerra’s @factsfirstph that Bato is now hiding in Davao City. Bato knows the terrain. As a constabulary lieutenant in the late 1980s, he was assigned to a mountain detachment that guarded movements of the New People’s Army.
But the proletarian constable is no more. Today he is a senator of the land with his own pork barrel. He is a motorcycle endurance challenger and is said to own a BMW S1000RR big bike (market price starts at P2,295,000). He had also been photographed riding a Ducati high-speed enduro motorbike (market price starts at P1,190,000).
Bato is no longer the son of the tricycle driver he once was. Duterte had placed him in positions that used cash rewards for cops who kill. That certainly is not a dirt poor job he once had as a fish market porter and bus conductor. Today as a twice elected senator, he has had access to comfortable amounts of money, even from salaries and allowances alone.
From Davao City therefore are friends of ours with access to information, albeit unverified given the circumstances that the subject of information is out of sight.
More than one have said that Bato has concealed himself in his farm where he has invested in Agarwood. Hypothetical if: Bato is now a wealthy man if that is true.
Agarwood farming involves significant upfront costs for saplings, land, and especially the crucial, specialized inoculation process (introducing fungus), with initial investments potentially reaching thousands of pesos per hectare. It is considered a lucrative, long-term venture due to agarwood’s extremely high market value, potentially yielding massive profits after 7-10 years.
Other friends say he is in the vicinity alright, but is protected by Jose Nelson “Tata” Sala.
The things that can be associated with Sala can be very unpalatable.
At the height of the POGO hearings in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, it was revealed that 1,501 Red Chinese nationals secured their birth certificates from the civil registrar of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur. Sala is currently the municipal mayor of Santa Cruz, the hometown of Bato.
The scam was uncovered by the National Bureau of Investigation. Sala said he has suspended the head of the municipal civil registry.
Last November 25, Oscar Bucol, the chairman of Tres de Mayo barangay in Digos City, was gunned down while he was livestreaming inside his house. I saw the saved livestream. Bucol was reporting on death threats against him. He was a fierce critic of Sala. His killing was seen by netizens in real time. Sala has denied ordering the killing.
Another netizen has posted in social media that Sala is wanted for the 2003 murder of Monkayo, Compostela Valley (Davao de Oro today) mayor Joel Brillantes. The main suspect, the netizen said, is Jose Nelson Sala. The netizen posted a screenshot of the NBI’s criminal history of Sala.
So who exactly is Sala and why would he protect Bato dela Rosa, if true? Sala was one of Rodrigo Duterte’s principal operatives in the Davao Death Squad. His name is on the Arturo Lascan̈as affidavit.
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The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
