Before fleeing, Bato says he's willing to be jailed if with Duterte

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MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said he was willing to be detained by the International Criminal Court as long as he would be held with former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In an interview with "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho" taped on May 13, before he slipped out of the Senate early on May 14, Dela Rosa maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines but said he was willing to be jailed with Duterte or near his cell.

"Depende, if magkasama kami sa selda. Magkasama kami," Dela Rosa said. (It depends, if we are in the same cell together. We are together.)

"Pero kung hindi, malayo... walang magiging communication between us, it defeats the purpose na," he added. (But if not, and we are far apart... there will be no communication between us, it already defeats the purpose.)

Dela Rosa also insisted that there must be a Philippine court warrant before he would surrender to authorities, despite legal experts saying domestic laws support his arrest.

Before Senate escape. On May 11, upon resurfacing at the Senate after months in hiding, Dela Rosa was chased by National Bureau of Investigation agents through the building in an attempt to serve him an arrest warrant.

Dela Rosa was then placed under Senate protective custody by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano. It was Cayetano who convinced Dela Rosa to reappear to help install him as Senate president ahead of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, whom the two senators are allied with.

In the early morning of May 14, Dela Rosa slipped out of the Senate premises in the wake of a gunfire incident. He is tagged as "wanted" by the ICC.