A complaint accusing three Senate personalities of helping Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa avoid an ICC arrest warrant has been brought before the Office of the Ombudsman, with a copy also sent to the international tribunal that issued the warrant.
Tindig Pilipinas lodged the complaint-affidavit Wednesday, naming Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Robin Padilla, and suspended Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Ma O. Aplasca. The coalition argued the three may be held accountable for obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree No. 1829.
The group is invoking Section 1(c) of that decree, which bars the harboring or concealing of accused individuals. According to the complainants, Cayetano’s decision to place Dela Rosa under Senate custody, Padilla’s role in driving him away from the building, and Aplasca’s blocking of National Bureau of Investigation agents together produced conditions that let the senator slip out and avoid law enforcement.
The complaint stated that the conduct of the three “appear to have obstructed, impeded, or frustrated the enforcement of legal process and the performance of legal functions.” It added: “We are constrained, as citizens and taxpayers, to file this complaint for Obstruction of Justice under P.D No. 1829.”
Coalition co-convenor Sylvia Claudo confirmed the document reached The Hague. “We have forwarded a copy of our complaint to the ICC itself,” she said. Convenor Kiko Aquino-Dee framed the gesture as procedural: “We are doing it just for their information.”
ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti played down the legal weight of that step, telling Inquirer it carries “no direct impact” on the proceedings against Dela Rosa. She qualified, however, that the filing “will help in putting pressure to make [Dela Rosa] surrender.” Conti also pointed out that helping a suspect flee does not register as obstruction under the Rome Statute and applies only within Philippine law.
The complainants anticipated a defense built on legislative privilege. They maintained the antigraft office retains jurisdiction even over sitting senators, citing Section 11, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, which confines parliamentary immunity to speech or debate in Congress or its committees. They further cited Section 13, Article XI, which empowers the Ombudsman to look into any act or omission by a public official that appears illegal, unjust, improper, or inefficient.
“Accordingly, Respondent Cayetano and Respondent Padilla cannot invoke parliamentary immunity to defeat this complaint at the outset. Their status as Senators does not shield them from investigation for acts that are not speech, debate, or legitimate legislative deliberation,” the complaint read, asserting that jurisdiction “properly pertains to the Office of the Ombudsman.”
The events trace back to mid-May. Dela Rosa returned to the Senate floor on May 11 after staying away for six months, supplying the decisive 13th vote that installed Cayetano as Senate President in place of Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. Two days later, security staff and NBI agents reportedly faced off over efforts to arrest him. In the early hours of May 14, Dela Rosa departed the premises in Padilla’s vehicle and disappeared again.
His legal exposure stretches back further. The ICC issued his arrest warrant in November of last year, though it remained sealed until May 13. The court’s authority over Philippine cases rests on the country’s membership period: Manila joined the Rome Statute in 2011, and while Rodrigo Duterte declared a withdrawal in 2018 that took effect in March 2019, the tribunal retained jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019. Dee defended that reach, noting the Supreme Court and the country’s legal institutions recognize the ICC’s standing over the years the Philippines was a member.
