MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has appealed to Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero not to surrender him immediately to authorities once a warrant for his arrest is issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Hangga’t kaya ng Senate President, na kupkupin niya muna ako, hindi niya muna ako i-surrender kung may warrant of arrest na. I hope din na rerespetuhin din siya ng executive branch of government ‘no kasi meron naman ‘yan mga ganoon naman na protocol, ‘di ba?” Dela Rosa told reporters in phone interview on Wednesday, March 12, when asked about the help he would seek from Escudero.
(As long as the Senate President can, he should protect me first, he won’t surrender me yet if a warrant of arrest is issued. I also hope the executive branch will respect him because there are protocols in place for that, right?)
While he reiterated that he is prepared to be arrested by the ICC, he expressed hope that the Senate will protect him, at least while Congress is in session, so he can continue attending to his legislative work and his petition before the Supreme Court questioning the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte through an ICC warrant.
“Para maasikaso ko pa itong aming ginagawang petisyon. Dahil meron pa mang 10 days na binigay na magcomment ‘yung aming side. Hindi immediate ‘yung TRO. Sabi nga ng Supreme Court, we failed to substantiate our petition na very urgent na kaagad magissue ng TRO. But ‘yun nga, binigyan pa kami ng 10 days na magcomment,” Dela Rosa said.
(So I can take care of the petition we are working on. Because we were given 10 days to submit our comments. The TRO (temporary restraining order) is not immediate. As the Supreme Court said, we failed to substantiate our petition that it was very urgent to issue a TRO right away. But they still gave us 10 days to submit our comments.)
The Senate is currently on break and will resume sessions on June 2. Dela Rosa’s term ends on June 30, and he is seeking reelection.
On Wednesday, SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said the High Court “found that the petitioners failed to establish a clear and unmistakable right for the immediate issuance of a TRO.”
Escudero has not yet issued a statement on the matter. We will update this story once he responds.
‘I’ll join the former president’
Dela Rosa has been out of the public eye since rumors of an ICC warrant against Duterte surfaced on Saturday, March 8. He skipped his party’s campaign sortie and Duterte’s event with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong on Sunday, March 9. Other candidates from PDP Laban, which Dela Rosa is part of, were present. He only delivered a message via video.
When asked, Dela Rosa said he remained in the Philippines. “Nangangampanya ako sa bundok bundok ng Surigao at Agusan (I am campaigning in the mountains of Surigao and Agusan).”
He said he turned off his cellphone to explain why the media was unable to contact him. He added that he was focused on the SC petition.
Dela Rosa reiterated that he was not afraid of the ICC warrant and that he would take care of the former president if he too would be arrested. However, he had previously said that he had been ignoring calls and notices from the ICC.
“I can join the old man and hopefully, makatulong ako doon sa kanya, maalagaan ko siya doon,” Dela Rosa said. (I can join the old man and hopefully, I can help him there, take care of him there.)
As Duterte’s former police chief, Dela Rosa is considered the architect and chief implementor of the deadly drug war, which human rights groups say claimed around 30,000 lives. ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti had said that arrest warrants for Dela Rosa and retired police chief Oscar Albayalde may be issued soon. – Rappler.com