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Sen. Robinhood Padilla talks with Sen. Bong Go, his majority colleague in the Senate, during a break at plenary on Monday, May 18, 2026.
Philstar.com / Martin Ramos
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Robin Padilla did not directly answer questions on Monday, May 18, about his alleged involvement in Sen. Bato Dela Rosa's evasion from arrest.
Padilla, whom investigators have named as a "person of interest" in Dela Rosa's escape, was reported to have accompanied his colleague past midnight on May 14—a few hours after the gunfire incident that rocked the chamber.
"Hintayin na lang natin yung investigation," Padilla said in an interview with reporters. (Let's just wait for the investigation.)
Asked where Dela Rosa is, Padilla said: "'Yan ang mahirap sagutin." (That's difficult to answer.)
Padilla also denied claims swirling online that Dela Rosa boarded a domestic plane at Ninoy Aquino International Airport or a yacht.
"Hindi po totoo 'yung NAIA, hindi po totoo yung yate," Padilla said. (The NAIA claim is not true, and the yacht claim is not true either.)
"Hindi gagawin ni Bato 'yon; mahal niya ang Pilipinas," he added. (Bato will not do that; he loves the Philippines.)
It was Padilla's first public appearance since the incident. Suspended Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Roberto "Mao" Aplasca confirmed to reporters on May 14 that Padilla and Dela Rosa left the Senate together.
Padilla was present at the chamber's oath-taking as senator-judges at a newly convened trial court Monday on cases against impeached Vice President Sara Duterte. Padilla and Dela Rosa are known allies of Duterte.
On the same day, he was appointed chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media.
Padilla was among the senators who backed the protective custody of Dela Rosa, when he reappeared on May 11 to replace then-Senate President Tito Sotto with their ally, Alan Peter Cayetano.
Before Dela Rosa's disappearance, he and Padilla were seen entering an elevator with Sen. Loren Legarda before the shooting incident at the Senate on May 13.
Dela Rosa is charged with crimes against humanity of murder at the International Criminal Court.
