Bato Dela Rosa camp urges TRO vs. ICC warrant after Senate shooting

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s camp informed the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday about the shots fired at the Senate on Wednesday and other alleged incidents, while reiterating their appeal for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued for him.

The Torreon and Partners law firm said it filed a Very Urgent Manifestation of Supervening Events with Reiterative Prayer for issuance of TRO, status quo ante order, and/or injunctive reliefs.

“We categorically denounce what happened inside and around the Senate of the Philippines,” it said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“No arrest operation, no political objective, and no foreign or international process can justify placing a co-equal branch of government, its Senators, staff, security personnel, members of the media, and guests in danger. The Senate is not a battlefield. It is a constitutional institution,” it added.

On Wednesday evening, gunshots rang out at the Senate amid a lockdown at the upper chamber.

Earlier, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Senate sergeant-at-arms and retired Police Major General Mao Aplasca made the first "warning shot.”

The NBI also denied that its agents were deployed inside the Senate building. It said they were only deployed at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) premises upon the GSIS’ request for assistance to secure the premises.

According to Dela Rosa's lawyers, the incident showed “how far some persons” were willing to go just to “illegally arrest” him.

“If there is a valid warrant, it should be issued by a Philippine judge. If there is authority to act, it should be disclosed, documented, and subjected to judicial review. There is no lawful shortcut around the Constitution,” it said.

The law firm also informed the SC of the presence of the NBI at the GSIS, the alleged attempted access through a Senate-connected entry point, and an alleged drilling incident, among others.

READ: Senate shooting, lockdown: What went down

“These events directly bear on the urgent constitutional issues already pending before the Court, particularly the legality of any arrest, detention, transfer, surrender, rendition, or removal of Senator Dela Rosa from Philippine jurisdiction on the basis of an alleged ICC warrant or any related foreign or international process, without prior authorization from a competent Philippine court,” it said.

It also said that it will await the official findings of the investigations by the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, the Philippine National Police, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for crimes against humanity of murder. The warrant mentioned his “alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator” for crimes between July 2016 to April 2018.

Before the shooting, the SC directed government officials to comment on Dela Rosa's plea against the implementation of the ICC warrant, giving them 72 hours to comment. Dela Rosa was told to file his reply within a non-extendible period of 72 hours from receipt of the respondent’s comment.

The SC, however, did not issue the TRO Dela Rosa's camp sought.

The senator was previously under protective custody of the Senate. A senator earlier confirmed that Dela Rosa left the Senate premises at around 2:30 a.m. — BM, GMA News