House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima lashed out at Senate President Tito Sotto on Sunday for comparing her and former Senator Trillanes’ past detention cases to justify the months-long absence of Senator Bato de la Rosa from office. 

“Our non-attendance in Senate sessions during our incumbency was involuntary. I could not be physically present in the Senate because I was in detention to face the fabricated charges filed against me then by the Duterte administration. On the other hand, Sen. Bato is running away from possible arrest by the ICC (International Criminal Court),” she lamented.

De Lima’s remarks followed Sotto’s statement on Friday, saying he cannot compel the physical attendance of De la Rosa, who has been missing in action since November amid an alleged impending warrant from the ICC over his role in the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.

Sotto pointed out that while there have been ongoing efforts to convince De la Rosa to show up in the Senate, they cannot force him to physically report to work because his office continues to function without him.

He cited as an example the offices of De Lima and Trillanes, which were allowed to 

operate through their staff despite their arrest for drug trafficking and rebellion cases in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

De Lima and Trillanes, both staunch critics of Duterte’s drug war, were both senators in the 17th Congress.

De Lima, however, lamented that it’s unfair to compare their cases to De la Rosa, whom she accused of deliberately abandoning his duty. 

Unlike the senator, she claimed that she fulfilled her legislative duties by filing bills—some of which became law—despite not having any resources or gadgets. 

“I even asked to participate in the Senate's online sessions and hearings during the pandemic since that was already being done, but the Senate majority did not grant my request,” she argued.

“These matters of productivity in legislative output and the constant eagerness to join plenary sessions and committee hearings despite my unjust detention are clear evidence of work and intent to work. Please don't use us as an excuse for not disciplining a delinquent senator,” De Lima asserted.

In early November, Ombudsman Boying Remulla confirmed personally seeing an ICC warrant against De la Rosa, but neither the Palace nor the Department of Justice confirmed the validity. 

Remulla, however, stood by his position, narrating that a liaison from the ICC showed him the full document containing the ICC arrest warrant, though he did not divulge the specifics, like the exact date.

He claimed that this corroborated a similar document, which was shown to him by his former colleagues in the DOJ, where he previously served as secretary prior to being appointed as Ombudsman in October. 

ICC records showed that Duterte has nine co-perpetrators in his crimes against humanity case, though their names remain undisclosed since the documents are heavily redacted. 

However, specific individuals, including De la Rosa, were publicly named due to their significant role in the brutal anti-campaign that saw thousands of people killed, mostly from poor communities, drawing global condemnation.

De la Rosa was Duterte’s first police chief appointee, having served from  2016 to mid-2018. After his resignation, he was succeeded by retired police general Oscar Albayalde, who continued to oversee the alleged extrajudicial killings. 

It has long been speculated that De la Rosa and Albayalde could be the next in line to face trial at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, where Duterte has been detained since his arrest in Manila on 11 March.

Albayalde earlier vowed that he would not resist arrest if the government enforced the ICC warrant through Interpol, while De la Rosa, who assertively stated that he’s “ready” for the possible ICC warrant, is nowhere to be found since Remulla announced the warrant.