LIVE UPDATES: Senator Bato dela Rosa evades ICC arrest warrant

From a “monumental blunder,” to a case of the powerful shielding its own, the great Senate escape of Senator Bato dela Rosa has been called many things.

Our newsroom and contributing experts have been hard at work piecing together the facts and timeline of events, contemplating the implications of this debacle, and battling the barrage of disinformation.

Here are some of the best pieces on Rappler to help you make sense of the mess.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and other majority senators say there is nothing illegal with Senator Bato dela Rosa’s escape because his International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant is invalid in the first place.

Rappler’s justice beat reporter Jairo Bolledo explains what’s wrong with their arguments. Read his piece here.

Citing a report from the Senate sergeant-at-arms, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano confirmed that Senator Bato dela Rosa left the Senate compound at around 2:30 am on Thursday, May 14. 

“But there’s nothing illegal with [that],” Cayetano argued.

Again, Dela Rosa is a subject of an International Criminal Court warrant for crimes against humanity. Aiding persons of interest in a criminal investigation may be considered illegal.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano goes ballistic over a question from the media on whether the attack in the Senate was staged or not. “We are a democracy,” Cayetano told reporters on Thursday, May 14. “This is the Senate of the Philippines.”

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano says in a press conference that Senator Jinggoy Estrada called him in early Thursday afternoon to confirm that Senator Bato Dela Rosa was no longer in the Senate.

Cayetano adds that they are also expecting a spot report from the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said he doesn’t know where Senator Bato dela Rosa is. 

Cayetano said this after he shared in a media briefing that he received a message from Dela Rosa’s wife, who confirmed the senator’s “escape” from the Senate compound. He also insisted that there was no warrant against Dela Rosa, even after the International Criminal Court itself said it had unsealed the warrant against the senator for crimes against humanity case on May 11.

Senator Bato dela Rosa’s wife said in her message to Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano that Dela Rosa might have used the Senate shooting incident to escape from the Senate.

Cayetano, however, said he doesn’t want to interpret the wife’s letter in that way.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said on Thursday, May 14, that the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms fired a total of 27 shots during a commotion with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents on Wednesday night. 

From its part, the NBI fired five gunshots.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano calls a press conference Thursday afternoon, May 14, after getting reports and briefings from Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca and Senate Secretary-General Mark Llandro Mendoza on the events of May 13 — when gunshots were heard on the Senate’s second floor after the upper chamber went on lockdown.