Hours, after suddenly appearing at the Senate, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is now under the protective custody of the Upper Chamber. 

This, after newly-elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, acted on Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s motion to put their fellow senator under protective custody in light of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were tasked to serve. 

“In light of the recent adoption of Senate Resolution No. 44, I move that Sen. Bato be placed under the Senate protective custody, until he is able to get all and exhaust all legal remedies to protect himself and until this institution is able to do just the same,” Marcoleta said during the Senate plenary session on Monday, May 11, a few hours after they elected Cayetano as the new Senate leader, ousting then Senate president Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

Marcoleta cited Article 59 of the Rome Statute in defending Dela Rosa’s right to be granted Senate protective custody, saying that the person to be arrested must be promptly delivered to a competent judicial authority. 

“Even for the sake of an argument that there is a valid warrant of arrest against our colleague, Article 59 still states that the person to be arrested must be promptly delivered to a competent judicial authority,” Marcoleta stressed.

“(This is) in order to accomplish at least three things: number one to identify or to ascertain the identity of the person being arrested; two, whether the process, the legal processes have been observed, and number three, whether or not his rights were protected,” he said. 

“This is very, very important, for purposes of protecting the due process and the rule of law. which our colleague can avail,” the lawmaker said.

Cayetano said that the motion of Marcoleta is consistent with the rules of the Senate and with Senate Resolution No. 44 and is also consistent with precedence. 

With no objection from other senators, Cayetano announced that “the motion is carried.”

“Consistent with past practices, Sen. Bato will enjoy the protection of the law and the protection of the Senate in accordance with our rules and with Philippine laws,” the new Senate leader said. 

Earlier, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes III, who is at the Senate when Dela Rosa showed up in time for the voting for the leadership change, showed a copy of the ICC’s arrest warrant to the media following the latter’s sudden appearance at the plenary session. 

Trillanes said he will personally serve the ICC arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.

As of this writing, Trillanes and agents of the NBI are now waiting at the Senate Library for Dela Rosa. 

The Senate also approved Sen. Joel Villanueva’s motion to cite in contempt the NBI operatives who chased Dela Rosa within the premises.

This was after they watched the CCTV footage of NBI officials chasing Dela Rosa while the latter was running up the stairs on his way to the Senate plenary session.