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By Nestor Corrales and Mikhail Flores
MANILA, May 21 (Reuters) - The Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday it would apprehend a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court "without delay", a day after a court rejected his petition seeking to block his arrest.
The justice minister earlier on Thursday gave the green light for law enforcement agencies to arrest Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, the former police chief accused of crimes against humanity in his role as top enforcer of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody "war on drugs".
"Fugitive Senator Dela Rosa will be arrested whether he likes it or not because we have to implement the law without fear or favour," said Melvin Matibag, chief of the NBI, the Philippine equivalent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Duterte, 81, who was president from 2016 to 2022, is in detention in The Hague after his arrest last year and will go on trial charged with crimes against humanity. He maintains his innocence.
LEADS ON SENATOR'S WHEREABOUTS
Dela Rosa made a dramatic return last week from six months of hiding and took refuge at the Senate before slipping away early on May 14, hours after chaos and gunfire erupted following an appeal for help claiming that his arrest was imminent.
His petition seeking a temporary restraining order was denied on Wednesday by the Supreme Court, after he argued the ICC's warrant, dated November and unsealed early last week, had no legal basis in the Philippines.
Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida on Thursday said authorities had leads on the whereabouts of dela Rosa, but did not elaborate. The senator's lawyers have said he was in the Philippines.
Dela Rosa would be tracked down and anyone helping him to evade arrest would "face consequences", he said.
"We are pursuing this so that the ends of justice may be achieved," Vida added.
THOUSANDS SLAIN IN 'WAR ON DRUGS'
Dela Rosa denies incitement or involvement in any illegal killings during the crackdown on drugs, Duterte's signature policy, when thousands of users and alleged dealers were killed either in police operations or mysterious slumland shootings.
Police have rejected allegations by human rights groups of systematic murders, cover-ups and staged crime scenes and say those killed in their operations were all armed and had resisted arrest.
The tough-talking dela Rosa, a loyalist of the former president's daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, maintained his high profile in the Philippines by running for the Senate after leaving the police, where he still has allies.
Philippine National Police chief Jose Melencio Nartatez on Thursday said the PNP took note of the justice ministry's directive and would perform its mandate under the law, but stopped short of saying it would arrest dela Rosa.
"The PNP likewise assures the public that all actions undertaken shall remain impartial, professional, and within the bounds of the law, with full respect for the constitutional rights of all parties concerned," Nartatez said in a statement.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores and Nestor Corrales; Editing by Martin Petty)
