Minority senators urge Dela Rosa to surrender

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the new minority bloc have urged Sen. Ronald dela Rosa to surrender to authorities as he continues to take refuge within the Senate premises to avoid an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

The new minority, comprising Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson, Risa Hontiveros and Bam Aquino, yesterday signed Senate Resolution 395, urging Dela Rosa to “voluntarily surrender to the proper authorities and seek judicial remedies.”

They pointed out that while the 1987 Constitution protects lawmakers from arrest while Congress is in session, such privilege is limited only to offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, “clearly indicating that no blanket immunity or protective custody exists for grave offenses or proceedings authorized under law.”

They also pointed out that Article VI, Section 11 of the Constitution, while granting legislative powers and institutional privileges to Congress, “does not authorize the Senate to provide sanctuary, immunity from arrest or so-called ‘protective custody’ to any member beyond the constitutionally recognized parliamentary immunities expressly provided therein.”

The Senate rules also do not contain any provision allowing “protective custody, institutional refuge or immunity from lawful arrest or surrender processes” to any member.

The minority senators cited the local law on crimes against humanity or Republic Act 9851, or the “Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity,” which they said puts jurisdiction over the offenses in designated regional trial courts, “thereby affirming the primacy of judicial processes in resolving questions of criminal liability.”

They cited previous cases of senators’ arrest warrant and surrender – like those of the late Juan Ponce Enrile, Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila De Lima – as proof that the Senate “has historically respected judicial and prosecutorial processes involving its own members and former officials.”

The senators urged the Senate to “affirm its commitment to the Constitution, the rule of law and the principle that accountability applies equally to all public officials regardless of rank or position.”

Leila taunts Bato

De Lima, meanwhile, taunted Dela Rosa for his clumsy escape try and challenged him to surrender to authorities just like what she did when she was arrested at the Senate premises on trumped up drug charges during the Duterte administration.

“As for me, I did not hide in the Senate. I surrendered and then the warrant of arrest was officially served to me,” De Lima, a former senator and justice chief, said, recalling her experience in February 2017.

“There is nothing in the law, there is nothing in the 1987 Constitution that says that if a member of Congress, whether in the House or in the Senate, is being arrested, he should be protected or given refuge or sanctuary,” De Lima said.

“And as for parliamentary immunity, yes, there is such a thing, parliamentary privilege from arrest if Congress is in session. But it is applicable only if the imposable penalty is less than six years,” the Mamamayang Liberal party-list representative said.

Recounting her arrest ordeal, De Lima said she left the Senate on learning of her impending arrest and went home to say goodbye to her family and get her belongings.

“I went back to the Senate because I didn’t want to be arrested at home. I didn’t want my family to see that their mother was being arrested. So, I went back to the Senate and stayed overnight there because I still needed to talk to my staff,” she recounted.

There are legal limitations to the Senate’s protective custody over Dela Rosa, a Palace official said yesterday, echoing the position raised by many legal experts.

On Monday, the Senate – under newly-elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano – granted Dela Rosa protection after the ICC ordered his arrest as one of the “co-perpetrators” of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte in his crimes against humanity case.

“There is what we call privilege that protects any senator from arrest in the vicinity of the Senate during session. But we know this has limitations,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in Filipino at a briefing.

“If a crime committed carries a penalty of more than six years, this privilege does not apply,” she said.

She also stressed President Marcos is well aware of the developments in the Senate.

She said the President’s standing directive to law enforcement agencies – not just in the case of Dela Rosa – is to always follow the law.

Asked how the government would justify its execution of the ICC arrest warrant considering that the country is no longer party to the Rome Statute, Castro cited Section 17 of RA 9851, which allows the government to defer to an international court the handling of such cases.

“So, for now, what is in force and being implemented is RA 9851,” she said.

“According to RA 9851, and it is clear in Section 17, that if there is already a state or international tribunal that has initiated an investigation, we can defer, we can waive our right and give the investigation to the international court, and that is what RA 9851 follows,” Castro pointed out.

On rejoining the ICC – as proposed by some quarters – so that the government would not have problems in enforcing ICC warrants, Castro said the President is not in favor at the moment but is open to studying the matter.

Police have beefed up security at the Senate complex in Pasay City. “Our presence at the Senate is strictly a proactive security measure to ensure public order and the safety of the institution,” Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement.

Over 154 police officers belonging to civil disturbance management teams from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) were deployed at the Senate premises.

“The PNP is here to provide perimeter security and prevent any potential civil disturbance arising from the current political situation,” Nartatez said.

National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuano said that while there are no orders yet, the PNP is ready to implement the ICC’s arrest warrant but only through Interpol and a local court order.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, has made it clear there is no increased deployment of Philippine Marines in the vicinity of the Senate. The AFP, through spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, also denied social media posts that an aircraft is being readied at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City to fly Dela Rosa to The Hague in the event of his arrest. - Emmanuel Tupas, Michael Punongbayan