SEN. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa cannot seek refuge from the Senate when the International Criminal Court (ICC) orders his arrest as a co-respondent of former president Rodrigo Duterte in his crimes against humanity case.
Former Senate president and justice secretary Franklin Drilon made the statement yesterday after Dela Rosa announced last week that he will ask Senate President Francis Escudero to allow him to seek sanctuary in the Senate while Congress is on recess so he can have enough time to attend to the legal matters needed by Duterte.
Drilon said the privilege stated in the Constitution that sitting senators and congressmen cannot be arrested while in the Senate or the House of Representatives only applies when Congress is in session.
Congress is currently on break. Regular sessions will resume on June 2.
He also clarified that the privilege has a condition.
“Dapat ang subject ng warrant of arrest is minor offense. Ang ibig sabihin nakalagay yan na exempted from arrest ang member ng Congress if Congress is in session and if it involves a minor offense, meaning ang penalty is not more than six years (The subject of the warrant of arrest should be only for a minor offense, which means, and it is provided in the Constitution, that a member of Congress is exempted from arrest if Congress is in session and if it only involves a minor offense, meaning the penalty is not more than six years [imprisonment],” he said.
In the case of Dela Rosa, who is also charged with crimes against humanity before the ICC, Drilon said the senator will not be exempted from being arrested since the crime carries an imprisonment of more than six years.
“The arrest warrant will come from the ICC for crimes against humanity. That’s why to my understanding, the prohibition against arrest enjoyed by members of Congress is not applicable. This has limited application only on minor offenses,” he said in Filipino.
He said the practice that law enforcement agencies are barred from implementing arrest orders on senators while inside the Senate building is borne out of “institutional respect,” but this is not mentioned in any law.
“There is no law on that. I will repeat, if a warrant of arrest is not served inside the Senate premises that is because of institutional respect. I have prohibited that many times during my stint as justice secretary and Senate president. But in this particular case, the ruling is not applicable to Sen. Dela Rosa),” he added.
‘READY’
Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said the PNP is ready to assist the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in serving arrest warrants against other individuals in connection with Duterte’s case before the ICC>
But Fajardo clarified that they have no information that the ICC has issued additional warrants of arrest against other personalities in relation to Duterte’s case.
“First of all, we don’t want to preempt the process,” Fajardo said in a radio interview, referring to the ICC process in issuing such warrants.
“However, we know that apart from the former president, there are others who have been charged along with him,” Fajardo also said.
Duterte is being tried by the ICC for crimes against humanity in relation to the extrajudicial killings that were carried out in the implementation of his administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
Aside from Duterte, lawyer Kristina Conti, an ICC assistant to counsel and a lawyer for the EJK victims, earlier said the tribunal is also looking into the liabilities of former PNP chiefs Ronald Dela Rosa, who is now a senator, and Oscar Albayalde who both played key roles in the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs.
Dela Rosa served as the first PNP chief of the Duterte administration. He coined the term “Oplan Tokhang” and led the bloody drug war. He was replaced by Albayalde after he retired.
The 79-year-old former president was arrested last week upon his arrival from Hong Kong and transported via a chartered flight to The Hague on Tuesday night. He was turned over to the jurisdiction of the ICC upon his arrival in The Netherlands on Wednesday evening.
Interpol coordinated with Philippine authorities for the serving of the arrest warrant. Duterte was arrested by the Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes, with the assistance of the PNP and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Since the former president was already arrested, more or less we already have a template (in effecting future arrests),” Fajardo said.
“This means that if there will be warrants that will be issued (by the ICC) and Interpol will again request the assistance of the PNP, the PNP is ready to provide assistance in implementing such warrants in accordance with our existing laws,” she also said.
Asked if there are already new warrants issued by the ICC, Fajardo said: “We have no prior information that warrants of arrest have been issued against other officials or individuals included in the case (of Duterte) before the ICC.” – With Victor Reyes
