Coddling of Dela Rosa may raise obstruction issues – expert
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate placed Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa under its protection. By dawn Thursday, May 14, the ICC-wanted senator was gone.
Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Domingo Cayosa said senators who knowingly allowed Dela Rosa to leave despite the warrant could potentially face legal consequences, such as obstruction of justice, depending on the findings of the Department of Justice.
"If they can put it together, I think the subsequent decision of the senators to allow him to leave and hide again could be evidence or an indication of their knowingly frustrating the service of that warrant," Cayosa said in an interview with One News' "Storycon."
He said knowingly impeding the apprehension or prosecution of a criminal suspect could constitute obstruction of justice.
"The only qualification there is 'knowingly,'" Cayosa said.
At a Palace briefing Thursday, National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag said the Senate had the responsibility to present Dela Rosa if he were required to appear before a court or government agency while under Senate protection.
"Well, that is sad because I feel that our discussion on that should be honored," Matibag said when asked about reports that Dela Rosa had left the Senate.
"I believe that our senators are respectable... We think they would protect not only senator Bato, but also the prevailing law and Constitution," he added.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano confirmed that Dela Rosa had left the Senate complex, reportedly with Sen. Robinhood Padilla, but insisted there was "nothing illegal" about his departure because the senator had not been arrested or detained.
"As far as escaping, he did not escape. He chose to leave," Cayetano said at a press briefing. "When you escape, you are under arrest, you are under detention. So everyone, including his wife, used the word escape, but actually he did not escape — in the technical, legal sense."
Dela Rosa had been staying inside the Senate under what Cayetano described as "Senate protective custody" while facing an International Criminal Court warrant tied to alleged crimes against humanity during the Duterte administration's anti-drug campaign.
Dela Rosa left after a tense and chaotic night inside the Senate complex, where gunshots erupted near the area separating the Senate's rented offices from the GSIS side of the building. — based on reports from The STAR
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