Opposition: This is why Bato should be tried in the ICC

Opposition leaders on Thursday slammed the apparent escape of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa from Senate custody, saying the Senate has become accessory to his alleged crimes.

House Assistant Minority Leader Perci Cendaña of Akbayan party-list said dela Rosa’s escape paints a Senate leadership that favors a person wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity instead of standing for justice.

“The Senate leadership should explain themselves before the widows and orphans of extrajudicial killings. They owe the Filipino people more than livestreams and excuses,” he said.

“This is exactly why Bato should be tried in the ICC. Walang hustisya sa bansang ito para sa mga biktima ng Tokhang,” he added.

(There is no justice in this country for the victims of Tokhang.)

“Pati ang Senado, accessory to the crime. Pati sila, kasabwat sa krimen. Trabaho ng Senado na gumawa ng batas, hindi ang labagin ito,” Cendaña said.

(The Senate is an accessory to the crime. Even they are complicit in the crimes. The job of the Senate is to make laws, not break them.)

'Cowards'

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima of ML party-list, who said that senators could be charged with obstruction of justice and harboring a fugitive over Dela Rosa, slammed the upper chamber's protective custody over one of the architects of the Duterte administration's bloody anti-drugs campaign.

"Ang protective custody ay hindi para pagtakpan o patakasin ang aarestuhin. Malinaw: may mga duwag at kasabwat ng duwag sa pananagutan,” de Lima, a former Justice secretary, said.

(The protective custody of the Senate is not there to cover up a crime or let a fugutive escape. It is clear: there are cowards and those in cahoots with these cowards who should be liable for this.)

In a joint statement, House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers, as well as House Assistant Minority Leaders Sarah Jane Elago of Gabriela and Renee Louise Co of Kabataan agreed that the incident was a "grave injustice to drug war victims.”

“The fact that a person wanted by an international tribunal for crimes against humanity could slip out of a heavily secured government institution is a major failure of the [President Ferdinand] Marcos Jr. administration and the Senate leadership, and it is a monumental injustice to the victims and their families,” the Makabayan bloc members said.

“It was not a mere procedural lapse. It is a national embarrassment and a clear demonstration of how impunity works in practice when the accused is powerful and well-connected. Habang nagtatago ang dapat managot, patuloy na dinadala ng mga pamilya ng biktima ang bigat ng pagpaslang at kawalan ng hustisya. The Senate leadership and security officials must immediately explain how dela Rosa was able to leave and who facilitated, enabled, or ordered lapses in security,” the they added.

(While those accountable hide, the families of the drug war victims bear the burden of the injustice.)

The Makabayan lawmakers also decried the chaos and gunfire that took place in the Senate ahead of dela Rosa’s apparent escape.

“The reported shooting incident that coincided with developments around the warrant raises serious questions on whether it was staged or exploited as a diversion to cover an escape. The full resources of the state must be deployed to locate him, take him into custody, and bring him to justice,” they said.

“The government has a duty to uphold accountability, not to tolerate evasion or provide backdoor protection to high-ranking officials accused of grave crimes,” they added.

Senate President Alan Cayetano, who angrily insisted that the Senate had been under attack, also balked at the use of the word "escape" for Dela Rosa's departure, maintaining that no one should be held responsible.

"He did not escape. He chose to leave. Everyone, including his wife, used the word escape but actually, he did not escape. I mean, in the technical legal sense. If you're talking in the colloquial sense na hawak kita, escape, then correct naman yan. That's why I admit even his wife used that. But it's not in legal parlance, hindi escape, umalis siya or he left. So no one has to take responsibility for that," Cayetano said in a press conference. — BM, GMA News