Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV has signaled he will not shy away from a Senate appearance should Senator Rodante Marcoleta move to summon him over the attempted service of an arrest warrant on Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
The willingness to show up stems from events on May 11, when Trillanes accompanied agents of the National Bureau of Investigation to the Senate carrying a copy of an International Criminal Court warrant of arrest directed at Dela Rosa. Authorities had been searching for the senator after the ICC issued the warrant in connection with alleged crimes against humanity tied to the bloody anti-drug campaign waged during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.
Trillanes has maintained that his presence at the chamber that day was not unsolicited. By his account, he went because Dela Rosa himself had asked to be accompanied by whoever would carry out the arrest, framing his role as a response to a personal request rather than an act of provocation.
Pressed on whether he would face Marcoleta directly if the senator pushed the matter, the former lawmaker left no room for doubt about his answer. “I will accept that as well,” Trillanes said, indicating he is prepared to stand before the chamber.
Marcoleta has been a vocal critic of the former senator’s involvement in the episode, having earlier questioned Trillanes over his explanation for turning up at the Senate amid the effort to serve the ICC warrant.
The exchange unfolds against continued turbulence inside the chamber, where Marcoleta was tapped by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to head a Blue Ribbon subcommittee and now holds a separate panel assignment touching on the internal disturbances that have gripped the Senate.
