Trillanes: NBI, not me, to enforce Bato arrest warrant

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Tuesday that the execution of the arrest of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa will be carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation, not him.

“It was just incidental that I showed the warrant (of arrest) because it was in NBI’s possession and I just showed it to the media,” he said in a radio interview.

Trillanes said his appearance on Monday was due to Sen. Bato’s “personal request.”

"I thought that if I went, he would follow. He probably challenged me, so I just accepted it. What I did not know was that he would coward away from that conversation.”

He said he would no longer attend Tuesday’s arrest activity, adding that “apparently, he (Bato) intends to hide from the law.”

Trillanes also said, “there’s no protective custody that an international criminal, fugitive, would be within the senate’s care,” adding that “those who disrupt the arrest could face an Obstruction of Justice, whether it be a sergeant-at-arms or a senator.”

PNP position

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said the Senate allegedly issued a protection order for dela Rosa, which it said is outside its jurisdiction.

Police Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño said the ICC warrant would still need to pass through local and international coordination channels before enforcement.

He said the PNP “cannot confirm or deny” involvement in the case, noting that coordination has yet to come from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime on the implementation of the ICC warrant.

Tuaño said the process would go through Interpol, then National Central Bureaus, and finally the PCTC, where the PNP and NBI may be involved.

He said the PNP’s role is limited to “maintenance of peace and order of the area,” adding that authorities were “happy” to report no incidents as of early morning.