Antonio Trillanes’ string of electoral defeats is the best explanation for his criticism, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Friday, dismissing the former senator’s latest attacks over the dela Rosa situation.
“There’s a reason why [former Sen. Antonio] Trillanes lost three elections in a row,” Remulla said in a statement to reporters. “He’s arrogant first. He thinks later.”
Trillanes had been vocal in his frustration after dela Rosa slipped out of the Senate early Thursday morning alongside Sen. Robin Padilla — despite Remulla having been present at the chamber the previous day. The interior secretary had insisted at the time that his purpose was not to detain dela Rosa but to “protect” him and the rest of the Senate body.
Trillanes, who lost a vice presidential bid in 2016, a Senate race in 2022, and a Caloocan City mayoral contest in 2025, did not hold back in a Friday interview with NewsWatch. “You know, I’ve given up on Secretary Jonvic. If you think, at one point, he cannot top his incompetence, he really keeps on outdoing himself,” he said.
“He said yesterday he’s there to protect Bato. If you’re there to protect Bato, how did he elude you? How will you protect him now? So, I give up on him,” Trillanes added.
The former senator had been among those accompanying the National Bureau of Investigation when agents attempted to take dela Rosa into custody at the Senate on Monday. That effort stalled after Remulla argued the ICC warrant required routing through Interpol before it could be acted upon locally, and the Senate placed dela Rosa under its “protective custody.”
Dela Rosa faces an ICC warrant as an alleged co-conspirator in crimes against humanity linked to the drug war conducted under former President Rodrigo Duterte. Tensions at the Senate escalated mid-week when security personnel fired warning shots at two individuals suspected of being NBI agents attempting to enter the premises.
It was only later Thursday that official confirmation came — from Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and Malacañang among others — that dela Rosa had already left the building.
