Lawmakers, Palace tell Bato: Don’t evade ICC
Several House members on Friday criticized Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for his plan to seek Senate protection while he exhausts his legal options before facing the International Criminal Court (ICC) as Malacañang dismissed his claim that President Marcos had assured him that he would not be arrested for enforcing the brutal drug war.
In separate statements, Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel and Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said the former Philippine National Police chief should join ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, his former Commander in Chief, at the ICC detention center in The Hague, the Netherlands instead of hiding.
Besides, the 1987 Constitution empowers the Senate to protect its members only when it is in session, they said.
Duterte was arrested on Tuesday and flown to The Hague where he was surrendered to the custody of the ICC to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody antinarcotics campaign that killed thousands of mostly poor drug suspects. The ICC is holding him at its detention center in the coastal district of Scheveningen. Malacañang Press Officer Claire Castro told a media briefing that the “betrayal of a person being accused should not be considered an issue.”
“We cannot have special treatment,” she stressed. “More importantly, the President and the government should not betray our laws, the country’s interests and the alleged victims of extrajudicial killings.”
‘Do the right thing’
Castro was responding to Dela Rosa’s remarks on Wednesday that Duterte’s arrest was a “betrayal to the max” as Mr. Marcos had supposedly personally told him that he would not allow the ICC to take custody of those charged with crimes against humanity.
According to Garin, if a lawmaker were an accused in a crime and Congress was in session, the lawmaker could not be arrested.
“But regardless, he should just do the right thing, since we’ve heard him speak so many times already. This is the best time for him to disprove the allegations,” Garin said. “The best thing he could do is help the (former) president mount his legal defense because he would know about it better, being the chief of the Philippine National Police.”
Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s first national police chief who implemented his bloody drug war, was among the Duterte-era officials who allegedly aided and abated the mass killings in the first case against the former president filed in the ICC in 2017.
Dela Rosa said he would first exhaust all his legal options here, including requesting Senate President Francis Escudero for protection, before joining Duterte in The Hague.
“As much as the Senate President could, for him to protect me and not to surrender me should there be a warrant of arrest and while we are in session. I hope the executive branch of government will respect this because there is such a protocol,” Dela Rosa said a day after Duterte was arrested.
‘Bravado’ exposed
Manuel pointed out that the senator should not even be using his position to evade accountability.
“It’s pathetic to witness former top police officials who once boldly declared ‘nanlaban’ narratives now trembling at the prospect of facing international justice,” he said.
The Kabataan representative said the former PNP chief’s “desperate attempt” to invoke parliamentary immunity exposed the “hollowness” of the Duterte administration’s “bravado.”
“The thousands of victims’ families deserve justice, not this shameful spectacle of powerful men cowering in fear of accountability,” Manuel said.
The Senate must “uphold its integrity” and refuse being a shelter for those facing serious charges of crimes against humanity, Brosas said.
“The Senate must not be used as a hideout by criminals. This would bring great shame if an institution established to protect justice would be used as a sanctuary by those avoiding accountability,” she said.
Backpedaling
Brosas also called out Dela Rosa’s political backpedaling.
“Just a few days ago, he boldly challenged the ICC with ‘bring it on’ and even said he was ready to join and take care of Duterte in jail,” she said. “But now that accountability is catching up to him, especially after Duterte’s arrest, he’s suddenly trembling in fear and scrambling for Senate protection.”
Under Section 11 of the 1987 Charter, senators and congressmen have the privilege of not being arrested for all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment.
If convicted of crimes against humanity, Duterte and his coaccused could face life imprisonment.
Tack used by Enrile
This privilege, according to the Term of Office and Privileges posted on the Senate website, protects the rights of the people, “enabling their representatives to execute the function of their office without fear of prosecution, civil or criminal.”
It was once used by then Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile in February 1990 when he was charged with rebellion complexed with murder for his alleged involvement in the deadliest military coup against President Corazon Aquino in December 1989.
He surrendered to agents of the National Bureau of Investigation outside the Senate when then Senate President Jovito Salonga barred them from arresting Enrile inside the chamber’s premises.
Enrile was allowed to post bail by the Supreme Court a week later. The court invalidated the rebellion charges against him in June the same year.
‘Natural’ reaction
Castro said that she had a meeting with Mr. Marcos earlier on Friday but the President did not mention the supposed promise he had made to Dela Rosa. The President also did not tell her whether he made the same assurance through an official letter to Duterte’s daughter, impeached Vice President Sara Duterte.
She repeated the President’s statement that the government did not cooperate with the ICC and just honored its commitment with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to bring his predecessor to The Hague.
Castro said the senator’s reaction was just “natural” since he was among those implicated in the complaint filed in the ICC by the relatives of some of the drug war victims.
“But (Dela Rosa) should not dictate how the administration should act, especially if it concerns our commitment with the Interpol,” she said.
Castro, a lawyer, said it would be “easy” for those who insist that they did not commit any crime in the antidrug campaign to defend themselves in the ICC.
She called on Duterte’s supporters to “open their eyes” to “the truth,” and to the plight and the agony of those who lost their love ones in his take-no-prisoners approach to end the drug scourge.
The massive disinformation on social media regarding Duterte’s arrest was aimed at gathering support for the former leader, Castro said.
“Let’s talk about the alleged victims of extrajudicial killings and the families they left behind. Why are Filipinos focusing their attention on those being accused of killings and of ordering the killings? Why are they glorifying those accused of committing murder and crimes against humanity?” she said. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
