NBI appeals to Bato dela Rosa to peacefully surrender to authorities

The National Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday appealed to Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa to surrender to authorities in view of the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Asked for comment to dela Rosa's statement on Wednesday that he will not heed the call of minority senators to surrender, NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag said: Well, pananaw po niya 'yun na personal. Pero siya naman nanggaling sa law enforcement at naririnig din natin siguro siya na sasabihin du'n sa kanyang mga subject na huhulihin na may warrant of arrest ay kung maaari, nakikiusap ako na payapa ka nang sumuko para wala nang kaguluhan, wala nang habulan na mangyayari para harapin 'yung pananagutan sa batas."

(Well, that is his personal view. But he came from law enforcement, and we may probably have heard him say to the subjects with warrant of arrest that if possible, I appeal to you to peacefully surrender so there is no more chaos, no more chasing, and so you can face your responsibility under the law.)

"Kasi isa 'yang mandato galing sa competent court, 'yung warrant of arrest na kailangan nating respetuhin," Matibag said in an interview on Unang Balita.

(Because the warrant of arrest is a mandate from a competent court that we have to respect.)

"Ngayon kung hindi siya susuko, mangyayari talaga 'yan. Merong habulan na mangyayari pa rin lagi. Kasi 'yun ang gawain ng law enforcement – to enforce the warrant of arrest. Otherwise kapag hindi natin nagagawa 'yung ganyan nating mga tungkulin, there will be a breakdown of law and order," he said.

(Now, if he will not surrender, that will really happen. There will always be chasing. Because that is what law enforcement does – to enforce the warrant of arrest. Otherwise, if we do not do our duty, there will be a breakdown of law and order.)

"Siya naman po nanggaling sa law enforcement. To avoid all these things, mas mabuti siguro na sumuko siya sa awtoridad para magawa natin 'yung tamang proseso at hindi na rin nagkakagulo at marami pang nai-involve na mga tao," Matibag added.

(He is from law enforcement. To avoid all these things, it would be better if he surrenders to authorities so we can do the right process and there won't be any chaos and not many individuals will be involved.)

NBI agents attempted to serve the ICC arrest warrant on dela Rosa when he arrived at the Senate on Monday afternoon.

However, the agents failed to serve the warrant as dela Rosa ran toward the session hall and was later placed under the protective custody of the Senate.

'Live' warrant

Matibag said no NBI agents are deployed to the Senate on Wednesday, where dela Rosa has sought refuge since Monday.

"Sa ngayon wala kaming mga naka-deploy na ahente roon. Ang alam ko meron du'n mga PNP (Philippine National Police) to maintain peace and order," he said.

(For now, we do not have agents deployed there. From what I know, there are PNP [personnel] to maintain peace and order.)

"Du'n po sa ganang warrant, live po 'yon. Buhay po 'yung warrant pero sa ngayon po ang direction muna namin,
temporarily we are not executing or enforcing the warrant of arrest," Matibag said.

(With regards to the warrant, that is live. But our direction for now is temporarily we are not executing or enforcing the warrant of arrest.)

Dela Rosa has said that since November when he was not seen in public after word of an ICC arrest warrant has been issued, he would go through checkpoints without disguising himself.

"Pero tingnan niyo, 'yung sinasabi niyang ganyan is parang panunuya pa sa ating law enforcement at saka sa law and order. Hindi magandang gawain 'yan na parang prino-promote mo pa ngayon na labanan natin 'yung ating law enforcement at gobyerno na rin because 'yung police powers is one of the inherent powers of the government," Matibag said.

(But see, with what he is saying, he seems to be mocking our law enforcement and law and order. That is not a good thing to do because it's like you are promoting opposing our law enforcement and government because police powers is one of the inherent powers of the government.)

Coordination with OSAA

The NBI chief said they coordinated with the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) of the Senate on Monday to allow their agents to enter the premises.

"Unang una, hindi naman kami makakapasok sa grounds ng Senate, sa premises ng Senate kung walang coordination sa security group ng Senado. So meron kaming koordinasyon na malinaw," Matibag said.

(First of all, we would not be able to enter the grounds of the Senate, the premises of the Senate if there is no coordination with the Senate security group. So we had clear coordination.)

Regarding the chasing of dela Rosa as seen on video, Matibag said the first three or four individuals seen behind the senator were members of his staff.

"Sa video na 'yan, makikita niyo maraming sumusunod pero ang mas malapit na nakasunod sa kanya na about 3 or 4 individuals na nakasunod sa kanya, staff niya 'yan. Nakita niyo may dala-dala pang maleta hindi po ba. Hindi lang natin alam kung ano ang laman ng maleta pero I suppose damit 'yan dahil magka-camp out na nga siya doon sa Senado," the NBI chief said.

(In that video, you will see that there are many individuals following him. But those who are close behind him, about 3 or 4 individuals, are members of his staff. You could see that they even had a suitcase, right? We don't know what's inside the suitcase but I suppose those contained clothes because he will camp out at the Senate.)

"Malayo 'yung agent natin, mga 3 or 4 meters away pa. So humahabol sa kanya," he added.

(Our agent was far behind, about 3 or 4 meters away. So he was chasing him.)

Matibag said based on the report he received, there was no wrestling, pushing, or jostling during the incident.

"Sa report sa akin, wala po. Kung meron 'yan, di sana lumabas na rin sa CCTV. Ang nakita lang natin sa CCTV, walang wrestling, track and field lang ang nakita natin. Habulan lang po. Ang hindi naipakita diyan 'yung tinackle ni Senator Bato 'yung aming babaeng ahente na kasama dun sa nag-e-enforce ng warrant eh... Tinackle niya. Tinulak niya. Eh malaki siya. 'Yun ang nangyari," he said.

(In the report submitted to me, none. If there were, it should have been caught on CCTV. We did not see any wrestling on the CCTV footage [shown to us]. We only saw track and field. Chasing. What was not seen was when Senator Bato tackled our female agent who was among those enforcing the warrant... He tackled her. He pushed her. But he is bigger than her. That's what happened.)

"Kaya sana ire-request namin, ilabas natin 'yung buong CCTV footages mula nung pumasok siya sa building hanggang nakatakbo siya," he said.

(So we would like to request that the entire CCTV footages from the time he entered the building until he ran would be shown.)

Regarding the OSAA staff member who was allegedly beaten up by NBI agents, Matibag said: "May pangyayari nga po na nasaktan 'yung isang miyembro kasi nu'ng nagka-ano na ng resolution to put 'yung protective custody ng Senado si Sen. Bato, pinull out na muna namin pansamantala 'yung aming mga ahente. At nu'ng lumalabas, naharang sila. Gusto silang i-detain ang mangyayari."

(There was indeed an incident wherein one member [of OSAA]... because when a resolution was made to put Senator Bato under the protective custody of the Senate, we pulled out temporarily our agents. And when they were going out, they were stopped. They wanted to detain [our agents].)

"At 'yung mga humaharang, the same security personnel na pumayag na pumasok sa building ng Senado 'yung mga NBI agent. Eh pagka ganu'n, illegal detention na 'yon. Obstruction of justice na rin 'yung ginagawa na 'yon," he added.

(And those who were blocking the way were the same security personnel who allowed the NBI agents to enter the Senate building. But in that case, that is illegal detention. That's also obstruction of justice.)

"So ang instinct na naman po, law enforcement, kinukuha talaga niya ang tao na kung haharangin mo kami, ikaw ang dadalhin namin para ikaw ang iimbestigahan namin as a law enforcement," Matibag said.

(For law enforcement, the instinct is, if you will block us, we will get you and bring you with us so we can investigate you as law enforcement.)

"Tapos napakawalan, tumakbo siya, nadapa eh. Ganu'n din ang nangyari diyan eh. 'Yung kanyang injury hindi naman dahil sa suntok or anything kundi dahil sa pagkakadapa niya du'n sa steps sa hagdanan," he said.

(Then when he was freed, he ran then fell. That's what happened. The injury was not due to being boxed or anything but due to the fact that he fell on the stairs.)

Why NBI alone

Asked why was the NBI alone at the Senate on Monday, with no representative from Interpol or the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), or even a local court, Matibag said: "Malinaw naman sa Rome Statute na surrender 'yan eh (It is clear from the Rome Statute that that is surrender)."

"Tapos 'yung sinasabing Interpol, ang coordination ng Interpol [ay] sa NBI na nga po 'yan eh, ang local enforcing agencies. And during the whole time na kami ay enforcing the warrant, constant coordination with the PCTC, 'yung Philippine Center on Transnational Crime," he added.

(Then Interpol's coordination is with NBI as local enforcing agency. And during the whole time that we were enforcing the warrant, there was constant coordination with PCTC, the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime.)

"So meron po 'yan. Nasa process po lahat 'yan. 'Yun lang, hindi nakikita sa video, sa TV kasi there are operational things na hindi na namin dapat ibigay lahat sa publiko dahil may mga sinusunod tayo na magiging enforcement na mga ganyan. Eh mapapag-aralan ng mga tao. Mako-compromise ang aming capability to enforce a warrant of arrest," Matibag said.

(So we had that [coordination]. That is all part of the process. But that is not seen on video, on TV because there are operational things we should not allow the public to know because we will have succeeding enforcements. People may be able to study our moves. Our capability to enforce a warrant of arrest will then be compromised.)

Meanwhile, Matibag said the NBI and the Senate will have an "exchange ng mga (of) communication" regarding the NBI agents who were declared in contempt by the law-making body after the chase event involving dela Rosa on Monday. —KG, GMA News