CIDG files obstruction of justice complaint vs. Robin Padilla over Bato Dela Rosa escape

The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Thursday filed a complaint for obstruction of justice against Senator Robin Padilla and others with the Department of Justice over the escape of Sen. Bato Dela Rosa, according to Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon.

Fadullon said the complaint was filed just before 5 p.m.

GMA News Online sought the senator's reaction and will update the story once it is available.

On Wednesday, the PNP-CIDG said it will file a complaint against Padilla and several others for allegedly helping Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa escape.

Padilla previously maintained that he did not help Dela Rosa “escape” as the former police chief only asked to hitch a ride with him out of the Senate building on May 14.

The CIDG said early Thursday that the shooting incident at the Senate and the escape of Dela Rosa are “related.”

“So, let me just say na, you know, two incidents po ‘yan. (These are two incidents). They are related,” CIDG chief Police Major General Robert Morico II said at a press conference.

Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant for “alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator” in the crimes against humanity of murder from July 3, 2016, until the end of April 2018, wherein at least 32 persons died.

Authorities attempted to serve the warrant against him on May 11, leading to a chase inside the Senate building. He was later placed under protective custody by the upper chamber and slipped out of the Senate premises on May 14.

Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida has tasked law enforcement agencies to arrest Dela Rosa, calling him a “fugitive from justice.” He has also called on Dela Rosa to surrender.

Meanwhile, the DOJ is also looking into the possible culpability of Padilla. —LDF, GMA News