The Department of Justice (DOJ) is unperturbed by the possibility that supporters of Sen. Robinhood Padilla may stage a rally when he attends the summons issued by the department next week.

Justice Undersecretary Ian Norman Dato gave the assurance when asked about the matter following calls by Padilla’s supporters, particularly on social media, to gather outside the DOJ compound.

Dato said the DOJ will proceed on the basis of the complaint filed against the opposition senator in connection with the escape of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.

“The department proceeds on the basis of a complaint and counter affidavit or any reply, rejoinder, answer rejoinder. That is to say the processes at the department are codified in a manual,” said Dato.

He added, “So, the department will not be affected by any noise that are train use to the matter that is before it. But we trust that any such event should it happen is within the province of our law enforcement agencies.”

To recall, the National Prosecution Service (NPS) has summoned Padilla to appear before a panel of prosecutors and answer the obstruction of justice complaint filed against him.

The complaint was filed by the Philippine National Police (PNP), represented by PCPT. Ericson C. Roc of the Anti-Organized Crime Unit under the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-AOCU) in May following the supposed escape of dela Rosa in the early morning of 14 May, hours after the Senate shooting incident.

The senator earlier admitted that dela Rosa hitched a ride with him as he was leaving the Senate premises.

He maintained that there was nothing wrong with giving dela Rosa a ride because the senator was not a fugitive and had no locally issued arrest warrant at the time.

Meanwhile, DOJ spokesperson, lawyer Polo Martinez, said the complaint had undergone evaluation.

The evaluation serves as the DOJ’s initial screening process, during which prosecutors review the documents and evidence submitted by the CIDG to determine whether the complaint warrants a full-blown criminal investigation.

If the evaluation finds sufficient grounds, the DOJ will formally docket the case to conduct a thorough preliminary investigation.

On this phase, Padilla and his co-respondents will be required to respond to the complaint and submit their own sets of evidence.

Padilla, his co-respondents are required to present their counter-affidavits and supporting evidence to the DOJ on two scheduled hearing dates –25 Sept. and 9 Oct.