TRECE MARTIRES, Cavite — Former police chief and seasoned lawmaker Panfilo "Ping" Lacson expressed doubts about Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa's plan to seek refuge in the Senate amid a potential arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming he may not be granted parliamentary immunity since Congress is currently on a break.

A member of Congress is immune from arrest while Congress is in session pursuant to Section 11, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution. 

However, this only applies to offenses punishable by not more than six years' imprisonment.

"Under the Constitution, when Congress is in session, there is legislative immunity but it's limited," Lacson told reporters in a briefing before the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas' campaign rally here. "How will you seek refuge in the Senate if Congress is not in session?"

He added that the potential warrant, being international in nature, further exacerbates the case for Dela Rosa. 

Dela Rosa openly expressed interest in staying in the Senate to delay or avoid arrest in case the ICC issued a warrant against for his involvement in the bloody drug war of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is now in the custody of the international tribunal for crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa was Duterte's police chief who initially oversaw the summary killings until he resigned in mid-2018 and succeeded by retired police chief Oscar Albayalde.

Following the arrest last week of their erstwhile boss Duterte, rumors began circulating that the two former top cops could be the next to be apprehended by the ICC as they are labeled as “co-perpetrators” of the former president.

Aside from seeking refuge in the Senate, Dela Rosa also admitted that going into hiding to evade a potential arrest is part of the "possible courses of action" he is seriously considering at present.

However, Lacson, who went into hiding himself in 2010 after being charged with the murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000, discouraged Dela Rosa, saying he has to face the music.

"He shouldn’t hide...It is difficult to hide as it will only make your cell larger, but you’ll still feel that you are detained because you’re unable to roam freely,” he told reporters in Filipino in an ambush after the briefing.

Lacson and Dela Rosa are both eyeing a Senate comeback in the 12 May polls, under the ticket of two separate parties. Lacson is running under the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.-backed Alyansa, while Dela Rosa is with the opposition PDP-Laban, which is chaired by Duterte. 

The government logged more than 7,000 deaths under Dutete’s brutal drug war. Local and international human rights organizations, however, estimated that the figures were a far cry from the actual death toll, probably exceeding 30,000, affecting predominantly low-income families and communities.