As they met no challenge from law enforcers, Senator Robin Padilla on Friday said he and party-mate Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosa’s exit from the Senate in the early hours of 14 May cannot be considered an “escape.” 

Padilla cried foul over reports tagging him and Dela Rosa as having illegally left the Senate after the tumultuous confrontation between personnel of the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (OSSA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), insisting that there was “no attempt to evade authorities.” 

Senate CCTV footage showed Padilla and Dela Rosa leaving in the former’s vehicle at  around 2:30 a.m., hours after the shooting that rocked the Senate building.

Padilla asserted  their departure was not unlawful since there was no warrant from a domestic court against Dela Rosa at the time. 

Dela Rosa faces a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) that the NBI was holding off from serving.

Padilla denied facilitating De la Rosa’s getaway, saying it was the embattled former PNP chief who asked if he could hitch a ride. 

“There were many policemen inside and outside the Senate. There were also CCTVs. No one stopped us,” Padilla said.

Padilla and Dela Rosa are colleagues in the PDP-Laban party that was formerly headed by ex-President Rodrigo Duterte who is under ICC detention  in The Hague where he is to undergo a trial for  crimes against humanity charges in connection to his war on drugs. 

Padilla reportedly stayed with Dela Rosa in the latter’s Senate office after the chamber placed him under its protective custody. 

re the latter sought refuge to evade an ICC arrest warrant, for three days after his return on 11 May, following six months of not reporting for work. 

Following the shooting, Padilla said he told  Dela Rosa  he was going home to his family but Dela Rosa supposedly asked for a ride because he did not have a vehicle at the Senate. 

CCTV footage in the parking area of the Senate building showed Padilla, De la Rosa, and an unidentified woman  boarding  a white SUV and driving unimpeded out of the building. 

A check of its license plate by the PNP showed it was registered to Padilla.

Bato asked for ride

“Senator Bato said, ‘I’ll go with you.’ How could I say no?” Padilla said. 

Padilla said  he dropped Dela Rosa somewhere in Makati, where his driver picked him up. Padilla said he did not  ask De la Rosa where he was going. 

Earlier this week, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida warned that Dela Rosa’s accomplices could face legal consequences for allowing him to evade the ICC warrant. 

Aside from domestic laws, Vida said they could also be held accountable by  the ICC.

The NBI has tagged Padilla and suspended Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca as persons of interest for allegedly aiding De la Rosa’s “escape” despite an outstanding ICC warrant. 

NBI Director Melvin Matibag has repeatedly denied that he deployed NBI agents to the Senate during the incident to try to arrest De la Rosa anew following their first botched attempt to serve the warrant on 11 May. 

This as they honored the Senate’s protective custody of De la Rosa. 

De la Rosa is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity over the alleged extrajudicial killings allegedly committed between November 2011 and March 2019 spanning Duterte’s tenure as Davao mayor and as president. 

Nationwide hunt

A nationwide search for Dela Rosa has been launched. As of Friday, the CIDG confirmed that De la Rosa was still in the country. 

In case he flees, the ICC can tap the 125 state parties to the Rome Statute to enforce the warrant against Dela Rosa. Of the state parties, 19 are in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Korea, Cambodia and Timor-Leste. 

The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, in 2019 on Duterte’s orders.

The NBI, meanwhile, said it is actively searching for Dela Rosa and will immediately enforce the ICC warrant once he is found.