Escudero: Bato may stay in Senate until all legal remedies exhausted

If an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is issued by the International Criminal Court, he can stay within the Senate premises until all his legal remedies have been exhausted, Senate President Francis Escudero said Monday.

Escudero’s remark came after Dela Rosa earlier said that he will seek protection from the Senate should a warrant of arrest be issued against him.

At a press conference, Escudero cited the previous cases of senators who took refuge in the Senate amid the serving of arrest warrants against them.

“Ito’y ibat-ibang sitwasyong kinaharap ng Senado kung saan may kaso laban sa kanila at ang naging pasya ng Senado ay ito: Hindi nakabase sa batas pero nakabase sa tinatawag na institutional courtesy—hindi papayagan ng Senado [na] arestuhin ang sinomang miyembro niya sa loob ng Senado lalo na kung may sesyon,” Escudero told reporters.

(The Senate faced various situations where there are warrant of arrest against the senators and the Senate's decision is not based on the law, but rather on what is called institutional courtesy— the Senate will not allow any of its members to be arrested within the Senate, especially during a session.)

“Ang sinabi ko sa kanya (This is what I told him), we will try to afford him every opportunity to avail of legal remedies that he is entitled to,” he added.

While it is up to Dela Rosa to make the Senate as his sanctuary, Escudero said this will only up until he gets the decision of the courts.

“Ang hangganan siguro no’n ay hanggang makakuha at klaro na kung ano ang magiging pasya ng korte kaugnay sa kanyang pag-avail ng kanyang judicial remedies na karapatan niya hindi lamang bilang senador, bilang isang ordinaryong mamamayan,” the Senate chief said.

(The limit, perhaps, is until a clear decision is reached by the court regarding his access to judicial remedies, which is his right not only as a senator but also as an ordinary citizen.)

No request for documents

Meanwhile, Escudero said there were no requests sent to the Senate yet regarding the documents that may be used in the ICC case versus former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Wala sa aking tanggapan at wala pa rin sa Secretary General na sinasabi sa akin, na aasahan ko naman siguro na sasabihin agad sa akin kapag may gano’n,” he said when asked if there are any requests for documents from the ICC.

(There is none and even the Secretary General has not informed me yet. I expect him to report that to me immediately if there are any.)

To recall, Duterte faced a Senate investigation into the drug war killings in the country in October 2024, admitting under oath that he has been killing people for a long time.

In a separate press statement, Dela Rosa tagged as illegal any forthcoming warrant of arrest from the ICC that might issued against him.

“Pagdating ng araw na lalabas ‘yung warrant of arrest ko, huhulihin ako ng PNP, ito ang masasabi ko sa inyo, ito lang ang masasabi ko sa inyo, lahat nang ginagawa nila ay ilegal kasi ‘yung warrant of arrest na kanilang sine-serve sa atin, hindi ‘yan nanggagaling sa competent authority,” said Dela Rosa, who earlier described himself as the number two accused in the ICC case.

(When the day comes that my arrest warrant is issued, and the police come to arrest me, this is what I want to say: everything they are doing is illegal because the warrant they are serving us does not come from a competent authority.)

“Hindi ‘yan nanggagaling sa local natin. Hindi ‘yan nire-recognize natin dahil hindi tayo under sa kanila. Kaya dapat magkakaisa tayo,” he added.

(That is not from our local authorities. We do not recognize that because we are not under their jurisdiction anymore.)

Duterte and Dela Rosa earlier filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to permanently prohibit the Philippine government from cooperating with the ICC.

Duterte is currently in ICC’s custody in The Hague, Netherlands after Philippine authorities served the warrant of arrest against from the international tribunal.

In a press briefing late in the evening of March 11, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos said the arrest was done “because Interpol asked us to do it and we have commitments.”

But in April 2024, Marcos said that he won’t let ICC serve any arrest warrant against Duterte as he does not recognize its jurisdiction over the Philippines.

During Duterte’s term in 2019, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute or the treaty that established the ICC, after the tribunal started a probe into his drug war

According to the arrest warrant, the ICC pre-trial chamber found reasonable grounds to believe he was "individually responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder" in connection with the killings blamed on his war on drugs.

It stated that the Duterte Death Squad (DDS) and Philippine law enforcement personnel under his leadership targeted persons allegedly involved in drug-related criminal activities.

Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights groups have refuted this and say that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News