MANILA — The incidents involving the Senate, particularly the exchange of gunfire on May 13 put the country to shame and are an indication of a failure in leadership, according to former Senate President Franklin Drilon.
Drilon said that the lack of stability and control can be attributed to a “failure of leadership” from both the Malacañang and the Senate.
“This is a collective failure of leadership. I do not know where we have gone wrong. Was it the elections? Was the process of our election not correct? Is it flawed? Why are we facing this situation where we do not respect anything, we do not respect the law […] let us fix the way we live, it’s a shame already, it’s embarrassing for all of us,” Drilon said.
“As they say, to me, there is failure of leadership both from Malacañang and the Senate. It’s a shame for all of us,” he added.
Regarding the Senate, Drilon — a lawyer by profession and a former justice secretary — explained that there is no law allowing Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to give protective custody to Send. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
According to Drilon, such privileges are only offered to legislative witnesses under the Witness Protection Program.
Drilon further said that this “protective custody” may even be the reason why Dela Rosa was able to evade authorities rumored to be enforcing arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“He is not a custodian, the Senate President is not a custodian of Senator Bato, who is free to do whatever he wants, whatever Dela Rosa does that is his decision, but Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is not in charge of detaining, he is not a jailer, he is the Senate President,” said.
“There is no such thing as protective custody; that is not in the law. The Senate has no power to get custody of a person and say that he is under the protective custody of the Senate. That’s why now, now that Bato has escaped, the people might blame Alan for it,” he added.
The absence of a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court should also mean that dela Rosa can be arrested.
“This only means that the court did not issue a TRO; the judiciary is not stopping the executive from fulfilling its duties in terms of executing the law, including the delivery of a warrant of arrest. That’s the meaning behind it, no TRO, that means no one can prevent, no one can block the implementation of a warrant of arrest,” he added.
On May 13 night — two days after Dela Rosa suddenly showed up at the Senate’s plenary session — the country was rocked with reports of gunfire inside the Senate’s halls.
The exchange came amid rumors that Dela Rosa will be arrested, as he is facing charges for the crime against humanity of mass murder for his role in the past administration’s drug war. The senator was the first Philippine National Police (PNP) chief under former president Rodrigo Duterte, and was even responsible for coining the term Oplan Tokhang — the police’s grassroots anti-drug campaign.
Dela Rosa’s appearance on Monday last week, May 11, came while the Minority planned a coup to unseat then Senate President Vicente Sotto III. The leadership change eventually materialized, and Dela Rosa’s attendance proved to be significant as the 13 votes that Cayetano got were the minimum number of votes needed to elect a new Senate president.
But on Wednesday night, tensions rose in the Senate amid rumors that teams were out to arrest Dela Rosa, who has a pending arrest order from the ICC.
It is still unclear where the gunshots came from, but National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag maintained that none of their agents were inside the Senate building.
In a press briefing, Palace press officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro said that Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca was the first to fire a warning shot to a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent, who was at the premises of the Government Service Insurance System where the Senate is located.
After this, the NBI agent fired back.
Cayetano, in a separate briefing, said that Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla reported that it was Aplasca who first fired a warning shot. He also confirmed, through a text message from dela Rosa’s wife, that the senator had escaped from the Senate.
Several House of Representatives lawmakers have already called out the Senate, claiming that they can be considered as accomplices to Dela Rosa’s confirmed escape.
In separate statements, the following lawmakers condemned the escape of dela Rosa:
* Akbayan Party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña
* Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima
* ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio
* Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago
* Kabataan Rep. Renee Co
All five said that it appears the “protective custody” provided by the Senate was a mere tool to allow Dela Rosa to escape. (Gabriel Pabico Lalu © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
