The Philippine Senate was placed under lockdown on Wednesday evening, May 13 after gunshots were reported inside the premises, prompting the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) to clear the Senate’s second floor.
On May 11, newly-elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano placed Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa under protective custody. This follows the recent release of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Sen. Bato, former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents were seen pursuing Sen. Bato and former Senator Antonio Trillanes attempting to serve the alleged ICC arrest warrant on Monday, May 11.
During the lockdown on Wednesday night, Cayetano went live on Facebook and said that they were allegedly “under attack” in the Senate. He asked for help and government action stating that, “So please kung sinong nanonood, sinong nakikinig, we expect ‘yung tawagan namin will understand the emotions here and will say na we'll do something about it.”
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla visited the Senate at 8:20 p.m., not to effect an arrest Sen. Bato, but to help contain the violence following the gunshot incidents.
However, NBI Director Melvin Matibag clarified at 8:39 p.m. that there were no NBI agents deployed to the Senate. “The problem there is that we didn’t deploy anyone there and we had no order to arrest Senator Bato,” he said in an interview with ANC News through a real-time video call. He also vouched that all NBI officials, including him, were at a three-day workshop in Sequoia Hotel, Parañaque City.
Will the Senate surrender Bato?
According to reports from ABS-CBN, OSAA Undersecretary Mao Aplasca said that there will be no arrest inside the Senate. He further explained that “If there will be [an] arrest, it will be by virtue or order of a local court.”
Through the Senate’s institutional autonomy, Cayetano’s instruction to the OSAA was to not allow an arrest.
When Paper beats Rock: Possible legal procedures of the arrest
Under the Republic Act (R.A.) 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, there are two ways to surrender the senator, as stated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Spokesperson Polo Martinez.
The first legal procedure is the Statutory Surrender where Philippine authorities can explicitly surrender the accused to the international court. Another option would be an Extradition process which involves longer bilateral and bureaucratic procedures.
The Extradition process starts with a diplomatic request through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), prompting the DOJ petition in a local Regional Trial Court where a judge must validate before an arrest warrant is issued.
However, the Senate standoff remains a hurdle to the arrest process.
The Philippine President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. released a video statement on the same night at 10:22 p.m., addressing the recent events surrounding the Senate. He affirmed that there was no instruction to arrest Sen. Bato, “Wala pong instruction kahit kanino na hulihin si Senator Bato. Ang NBI, sinabihan ko, noong lumabas 'yung resolution ng Supreme Court, ay sinabi ko na umalis na kayo diyan at sumunod naman sila.”
He further explained the government’s perspective regarding the gunshots, "Hindi po gobyerno ang gumawa nito. Wala pong pumasok na tagalabas na sundalo o militar o NBI sa Senado. Hindi po natin alam kung sino ’yong sumubok na pumasok at dahil doon nagkaputukan."
As of May 14 at 12:07 a.m., the Scene of the Crime Operatives (S.O.C.O) investigated the reported shootings in the Senate building.
The Manila Bulletin reported at 11 a.m. on May 14 that Sen. Bato left the Senate premises at 2:30 a.m., as confirmed by the Senate Secretariat.
This is a developing story.
