Prosecutors are weighing whether anyone who assisted Sen. Ronald dela Rosa in leaving the Senate compound can be charged, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said Wednesday.
A central question for the panel, according to Vida, is whether the senator’s removal was coordinated in advance rather than improvised. Investigators are probing the stretch between May 11 and May 14 — from dela Rosa’s appearance at the chamber through his pre-dawn departure days later.
“Tinitingnan ito pangkalahatan, na iyong actions ba noong simula pa lang, ito ba’y planado, mas malaking plano, nilagay siya sa protective custody, ito ba ay kasama sa pagpaplano? Iyong pagsasabi ba na under attack, lockdown ang Senado, lahat ito,” Vida said.
The custody arrangement traces back to a declaration by then-Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who placed dela Rosa under what he called the Senate’s protective custody after the International Criminal Court made public an arrest warrant tied to the administration’s anti-drug campaign.
According to Vida, the panel has reached several preliminary conclusions. It determined that the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms had no justification for the steps it took against the National Bureau of Investigation, and that no genuine threat to the chamber existed on the night of May 13. The NBI, the panel found, had been acting to carry out the ICC warrant. Because that warrant became public on May 11, anyone who facilitated the senator’s exit afterward could bear responsibility.
These findings rest on material gathered from the Philippine National Police, journalists present during the events, and the Government Service Insurance System, Vida said.
A separate matter the secretary addressed involved an obstruction of justice complaint that the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group lodged against Sen. Robin Padilla. That complaint, he said, was returned for supplementary paperwork — though he would not specify what documents prosecutors had requested.
“That’s a matter for case build-up so hindi po namin muna mare-reveal,” Vida said.
One limitation Vida acknowledged: the panel had been unable to physically examine the Senate grounds while Cayetano led the chamber. With Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian now installed as Senate President, the department intends to renew its request for access.
“With the change in the Senate leadership, we are expecting and hoping that there will be more coordination and cooperation with the panel,” he said.
