Former senator and human rights advocate Leila de Lima called on Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to surrender to authorities following the shooting incident at the Philippine Senate on the night of May 13, in a statement posted on her Facebook page.
“Ang pinakamainam na solusyon ngayon ay sumuko na si Sen. Bato dela Rosa sa awtoridad. Wala nang dapat maging gulo o madamay pa. Dasal natin ang kaligigtasan ng mga nasa Senado,” de Lima wrote — urging an end to the standoff and asking the public to pray for the safety of everyone inside the Senate building.
The statement came hours after gunshots rang out inside the Senate complex, where dela Rosa had been holed up since Monday to resist an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity stemming from his role in the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs. No casualties were reported in the shooting incident, the cause and perpetrators of which remain under investigation.
De Lima herself spent nearly seven years in detention on drug charges that she and her supporters maintained were politically motivated, before being acquitted in 2023. Her call for dela Rosa’s surrender carries the weight of someone who has navigated the intersection of law, politics, and personal freedom under similar public pressure.
