EDITORIAL — Protective custody

Senators wanting to protect one of their own concocted a concept of “protective custody” to prevent state forces from apprehending Sen. Ronald dela Rosa.

Protective custody does not mean turning the Senate into an instrument for a wanted person to evade arrest, or allowing the person to escape.

Under “protective custody,” Dela Rosa left the Senate together with his staunch defender, Sen. Robinhood Padilla, in the wee hours of Thursday. As of yesterday, Dela Rosa’s whereabouts were again unknown – except, presumably, to those who are supposed to be giving him protective custody.

Government officials have said it is the responsibility of the self-styled custodians to produce Dela Rosa if needed by judicial and law enforcement authorities.

In the meantime, authorities are pursuing persistent speculation that the unprecedented gunfire started by the Senate sergeant-at-arms within the chamber premises was meant as a diversion to allow Dela Rosa to leave the building, which was surrounded by law enforcement teams.

With conflicting versions of what transpired, the best way to piece together the truth about what happened during the tumultuous events at the Senate from May 11 until the protracted gunfire on the night of May 13 is to review video recordings from the numerous closed-circuit television cameras throughout the Senate premises.

That is if the CCTV footages have not yet been tampered with or hidden, as Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was recorded on video suggesting at the height of the commotion. As the video went viral, Estrada claimed that he wanted the video recordings hidden to preserve them.

The explanation could be believable if it didn’t come from a senator who is still undergoing trial for plunder and is expected to face more indictments on similar charges related to the flood control corruption mess.

Preserving CCTV footage is not the job of senators, but of security forces. Does Estrada, who is part of the new majority, lack confidence in the Senate sergeant-at-arms? The one that came in just this week, Dela Rosa’s Philippine Military Academy classmate Mao Aplasca, is now under six-month preventive suspension on orders of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla.

Aplasca, a retired police major general who was also House sergeant-at-arms when Alan Peter Cayetano was the speaker, has admitted firing the first “warning shot” upon accosting a man from the National Bureau of Investigation.

Over 30 more gunshots followed that “warning shot” fired inside an enclosed public facility and mostly directed at people Aplasca knew to be law enforcement agents. Was that Aplasca’s idea of protective custody for his PMA “mistah”?

The CCTV recordings can shed light on this. They must be turned over, untampered with and complete, to authorities.