Senator Bato de la Rosa returned to the Senate on Monday, 11 May, after six months of being absent, allegedly to evade an ICC warrant. He sustained a bruise on his finger following a scuffle with operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation, who attempted to arrest him at the Senate premises.
Aram Lascano for the Daily Tribune
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Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa explained his appearance at the Senate session on Monday, 11 May, saying he had three reasons for attending.
“First, there will be a change of leadership in the Senate. Second, our impending duty to shift as senator judges in the impeachment court once the articles of impeachment reach the Senate. And third, I am embarrassed as I was bashed due to getting paid despite not going to work, that’s why I said I should work," Bato said Wednesday in an interview with DZRH.
He said his presence was decisive in the leadership vote.
“They were only twelve (votes). I was the thirteenth.”
Dela Rosa also said he believed National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) actions were aimed at preventing him from voting.
“NBI’s blocking was to prevent me from voting so that there would be no change in leadership.”
On wrestling claims
Responding to NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag’s statement that no physical confrontation occurred, Dela Rosa said both sides had different accounts.
“We have our own versions. If that’s his version, then my version is that I felt it," he said.
"Whatever your standard is in wrestling, mine is when you’re touched or held, and you struggle to free yourself, that’s what wrestling is for me," he added.
“I was grabbed, so I struggled to get free and ran,” he said. “That, for me, is what wrestling means. Not body slamming the women on the floor.”
He said two female NBI agents served the warrant, with several male personnel reportedly positioned behind them, prompting him to “run for his life.”
Dela Rosa did not identify the senator who drove him to the Senate, saying only that he is prepared to take a motorcycle taxi if needed to attend sessions.
Waiting for 'help'
He said he is waiting for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the temporary restraining order sought by his camp.
He also said he sought help from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., adding that in difficult situations, “all you have to do is be optimistic about all the things that you need to happen.”
Dela Rosa said he turned to the President as a fellow Filipino.
“Who would he ask for help if not a fellow Filipino, a foreigner?”
He said Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has not given guarantees beyond Senate custody, quoting him as saying: “This (senate custody) is not forever. All he said to me was that they would guard my rights.”
