Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Monday, March 17 assured that institutional courtesy would be given to Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa in the event the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant against him.

Escudero also said the Senate will not allow a member of the institution to be arrested inside the Upper Chamber especially when it is in session. 

“Historically, whether there is a session or none, institutional courtesy dictates that no police be allowed to come in just to arrest a senator,” Escudero said in a press briefing at the Senate. 

“Two things happen, they need to exhaust all legal remedy, or the senator will voluntarily come out of the Senate,” he pointed out.

“The most striking case was the case of (former) Sen. Leila De Lima. She only stayed here for one night and the next day surrendered herself to authorities ” the Senate leader cited.

Moreover, as in the case of Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Escudero noted that they too surrendered to authorities upon the issuance of a warrant of arrest against them when they were charged for plunder at the height of the investigation on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) case. 

During the PDAF case, Escudero recalled that in June 2014, then Senate president Franklin Drilon had said he would not allow then Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, Senators Estrada and Revilla, who were indicted for plunder, to be arrested in the session hall or inside the Senate building.

Drilon had then said his refusal was not a matter of law but of “institutional courtesy” and asked the authorities not to arrest the senators within the chamber’s premises. 

Senators Enrile, Estrada and Revilla voluntarily surrendered to authorities on the same day that the warrants were issued by the Sandiganbayan for their arrest.

The Senate chief also cited the case of former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who took refuge in the Senate after then Senate president Vicente Sotto III said he would not allow his arrest within the premises to preserve the dignity of the Senate. 

Trillanes stayed inside Senate premises for 25 days from September 4 to Sept. 29, 2018 and left the building when the Makati Regional Trial Court hearing the coup d’etat charges against him defered the issuance of an arrest warrant. The same court also denied the government’s petition to arrest Trillanes in October 2018 and in March 2021, the Court of Appeals dismissed the case against him. In April 2024, the Supreme Court declared as void the revocation of his amnesty. 

Former senators Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II went into hiding in 2003 after his supposed involvement in the “Oakwood mutiny”, while Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, on the other hand, fled the country when he was indicted for double murder in February 2010. 

Escudero also recalled that in Feb. 27, 1990, then Senate president Jovito Salonga also did not allow Enrile, who was charged with “rebellion complexed with murder,” to be arrested while the Senate session was in progress. 

Salonga instructed Senate security to bar agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) from entering the Senate. 

That time, NBI Director Alfredo Lim went to the Senate President’s office with the arrest warrant against Enrile but Salonga objected to the serving of the warrant in Senate premises. After delivering a privilege speech, Enrile surrendered to the NBI outside the Senate.

“The Constitution is clear in Article VI, Section XI it is only when Congress is in session and the penalty to be imposed for the offense is less than six (6) years, is a member of the Senate or Congress immune from arrest,” Escudero noted.

Nevertheless, the Senate leader said Dela Rosa can take refuge in the Senate untill all his legal remedies have been exhausted. 

“I told him (Dela Rosa), we will try to afford him every opportunity to avail of legal remedies that he is entitled to,” said Escudero, a matter which he said the reelectionist senator had started to do when he and Duterte filed a petition asking for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the ICC’s arrest of the former leader.

Earlier, Dela Rosa  said he will seek protection from the Senate should an arrest warrant be issued against him in relation to the crimes against humanity that was filed against him before the ICC. 

The case stemmed from the numerous killings that occurred in the Philippines during the Duterte administration's infamous war on drugs where he was the chief implementor of the Oplan Tokhang. Dela Rosa was then the national police chief.