De Lima: Senators may face obstruction of justice charges for harboring Bato

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and ML Party-list Representative Leila de Lima on Thursday said some senators may face obstruction of justice and harboring a fugitive charges for their apparent refusal to hand over Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa to the authorities.

"Well, first of all, the members of the Senate are not immune from criminal suit. The members of the Senate are not above the law. Meron tayong tinatawag ng obstruction of justice. Meron tayong tinatawag na harboring a fugitive. These are criminal provisions under the Revised Penal Code and therefore punishable by an appropriate penalty," de Lima said in a phone interview.

De Lima said those who may be charged are "yun talagang mga nandoon kahapon."

She added, "Then that, of course includes, foremost will be the Senate President [Alan Peter Cayetano], kasi even based on his pronouncements na hindi daw ibibigay, hindi daw isu-surrender at bibigyan daw ng protective custody till merong local courts ang mag-issue ng warrant of arrest, where [it's] a position that I disagree with. That's a wrong reading of the law. So yon, yung mga any of those or some of those in the Senate na nandoon kahapon and standing with the Senate President, sa side ng Senate President in making or pronouncing that position na hindi nila isu-surrender si Senator Bato."

De Lima said last night's chaos in the Senate could have been avoided if the Senate had surrendered dela Rosa to the authorities.

"Anong puno't dulo niyan? Anong cause niyan? Yung pagkupkop ng Senado, ng Senate leadership, kay Senator Bato. Eh kung sinurrender ba kaagad si Senator Bato, hindi sana nangyayari yan. Dapat nga i-surrender. Dahil nga may warrant of arrest and hindi naman nakakuha ng TRO kahapon sa Supreme Court. So walang legal impediment ngayon para arestuhin," de Lima explained.

When asked who can file the charges, de Lima replied, "NBI as a law enforcement authority can file that. Lalo na sila yung nagse-serve noong una kaya lang tinakasan, tinakbuhan. So they would be a proper party to file that and initiate an investigation."

When asked about Cayetano's pronouncement that Dela Rosa rode in his vehicle to enter the Senate on Monday, de Lima said, "You shouldn't be doing that. Because that is a manifest display of obstruction of justice. That is a manifest display of aiding and abetting a fugitive." — BM, GMA News