Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano still tried—but failed— to prevent the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada when operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrived at the Senate to implement the order of the Sandiganbayan on Monday afternoon, June 1, ranking government official said.

But Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he insisted on implementing the arrest warrant by the 5th Division of the Sandiganbayan where Estrada is facing a case of plunder.

Remulla arrived at the Senate at around 3:30 p.m. to oversee the implementation of the arrest warrant.

It was then that the confrontation between Remulla and Cayetano.

According to the DILG chief, Cayetano has been insisting that even in the time of Jovito Salonga, senators enjoy immunity from arrest inside the Senate as a matter of courtesy, being a co-equal branch of the government with the Judiciary and the Executive.

But as the confrontation started to escalate, Remulla said he shut down the argument being raised by Cayetano.

“He said that even in the time of (Jovito) Salonga, he protected (Juan Ponce) Enrile),” Remulla Remulla told reporters in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“I told him that Sir, I’m sorry. You lost that privilege when Bato escaped,” he stressed.

Remulla was referring to the incident on May 11 when Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa arrived at the Senate to participate in the ouster of then Senate president Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) tried to arrest Dela Rosa but Cayetano, already the Senate president, blocked the arrest and issued a Senate protective custody.

A few hours after the Senate gunfire, Del Rosa was able to leave the Senate allegedly with the help of Sen. Robin Padilla.

Arrest or surrender?

Remulla clarified that Estrada was arrested, rejecting the narrative of the camp of the latter that he surrendered.

It was in the Senate where Estrada was informed of his arrest and was read of his Miranda rights before he was transported to the CIDG headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City for booking procedures.

The booking procedures include taking of mugshots, taking of fingerprints and medical examinations—a mandatory requirement to establish identify of those named in the arrest warrant as well as the medical and physical condition of the accused.

All of the five named in the arrest warrant are in good physical condition, according to Remulla, except for former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Manuel Bonoan.

Hospital arrest

Bonoan surrendered to the CIDG along with another accused but during the medical examination, his blood pressure shot up to 192/100.

This prompted the police to take him to the hospital and Remulla said the former would continue to receive medical attention at the hospital until his blood pressure normalizes.

“He will be kept there (hospital) for an undetermined amount of time before he stabilizes and his doctors say that he is fit to stand trial,” said Remulla.

“But he will have full security, he will not be allowed to go out, and there is a restrictive access to him,” he added.