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MANILA, Philippines — Hours after helping install new leadership in the upper chamber, Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa was placed under Senate protective custody Monday, May 11, after a chase inside the Senate building linked to reports of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
The new Senate leadership under Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano also ordered a probe, released CCTV footage and cited in contempt several individuals involved in the incident.
The confrontation unfolded after Dela Rosa returned to the Senate following months of absence and joined the vote that ousted Senate President Tito Sotto, paving the way for Cayetano's election.
Earlier in the day, Dela Rosa claimed National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to block him from entering the Senate building.
CCTV shown, lockdown ordered
During session, Cayetano ordered the presentation of CCTV footage from inside the Senate building and directed the Senate sergeant-at-arms to investigate the incident.
The footage showed several individuals running after Dela Rosa inside the building. It did not show Dela Rosa being wrestled, as he had earlier claimed.
As of posting, the Senate had cited in contempt the individuals involved in the chase, whose names have yet to be disclosed.
Cayetano also ordered a lockdown of the Senate building while the incident was being investigated.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag and Southern Police District Director Glenn Oliver Cinco were later seen outside the Senate premises.
Protective custody
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta later moved to place Dela Rosa under Senate protective custody.
The Senate approved the motion, saying the measure was meant to ensure Dela Rosa's security and allow him to address legal developments while availing himself of judicial remedies.
The move effectively placed Dela Rosa under the protection of the new Senate leadership hours after he helped install Cayetano as Senate president.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV later showed reporters documents that he claimed were an ICC arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.
The first page was marked "secret" and carried a photo of Dela Rosa as Philippine National Police chief alongside the ICC logo.
The ICC has yet to confirm the existence of the alleged warrant.
The Department of Justice and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla have also said no such warrant has been formally communicated to them.
Earlier at the session, Dela Rosa's allies who now occupy the majority had him installed chair of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
Supreme Court plea
Dela Rosa, through his counsels at Torreon and Partners, filed an urgent manifestation with omnibus motion before the Supreme Court en banc, seeking judicial protection from what his lawyers described as a "three-layered enforcement strategy" against him.
His lawyers cited preparations announced by the Department of the Interior and Local Government for a 10,000-member task force for a possible arrest, as well as a subpoena issued by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
They also cited public statements about possible enforcement through an alleged ICC warrant, Interpol red notice or diffusion.
"None of these instruments, singly or together, is a lawful substitute for a warrant issued by a Philippine judge upon independent determination of probable cause, as required by the 1987 Constitution," the law firm said.
The lawyers said they were asking the Supreme Court to step in before any enforcement action could make judicial review difficult.
"The events involving former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte demonstrate how quickly a person may be taken from Philippine territory once executive action is set in motion," they said.
"In such a situation, judicial review may become practically difficult, if not ineffectual, once foreign custody is completed," they added.
