Akbayan: Senate shooting 'highly suspicious'

The Akbayan Party-list said Thursday the shooting incident at the Senate building on Wednesday evening, where Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was taken into custody, was “deeply alarming” and “highly suspicious.”

“We echo serious concerns that the incident may have been deliberately staged to manufacture chaos, potentially to mask an attempt by dela Rosa to escape and/or to pressure the Supreme Court into issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) in his favor,” the party said in a statement.

Gunshots rang out at the Senate amid an ongoing lockdown at the upper chamber, where Dela Rosa was under protective custody.

The tension at the Senate developed after the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order sought by Dela Rosa, who is facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Following the change of leadership at the Senate last May 11, which also marked Dela Rosa’s return after months of hiding, the upper chamber granted a motion to place the senator under its protective custody.

But after the chaos on Wednesday evening, Dela Rosa was reported to be no longer in the Senate premises.

For its part, Akbayan lamented that the Senate has turned into a hideout for an “accused criminal evading accountability.”

“This is outright obstruction of justice! It is an unprecedented disgrace to the institution and a betrayal of the Senate’s democratic mandate,” the party said.

“The Senate must never be transformed into a sanctuary for fugitives and allies fleeing accountability. No public office, no matter how powerful, is above the law,” it added.

The ICC has confirmed that the tribunal has issued a warrant of arrest for Dela Rosa, former President Rodrigo Duterte's first chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), in connection with the killings under his war on drugs. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA News