NBI subpoenas Aplasca, 3 others over Bato ‘escape’

MANILA, Philippines, June 2 ------ The National Bureau of Investigation has issued subpoenas to four people to shed light on the disappearance of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

NBI Director Melvin Matibag yesterday said those asked to appear this week for questioning are suspended Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca, Pasay police chief Col. Joselito de Sesto, Sen. Robinhood Padilla’s deputy chief of staff Jean Robles and Padilla’s uncle Virgilio Cariño.

Authorities have been searching for Dela Rosa since he slipped out of the Senate premises in the wee hours of May 14 amid an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Dela Rosa left the Senate hours after a shooting incident that Aplasca instigated after he fired warning shots at NBI personnel. Some critics viewed this as a smokescreen to allow the senator to evade arrest.

De Sesto was inside a police vehicle that some claimed had escorted Dela Rosa’s getaway vehicle. It was later revealed that the wanted senator hitched a ride with Padilla and alighted in Makati. The Pasay police chief had since denied accusations of providing security escort to Dela Rosa. Robles, a retired military personnel, allegedly joined Dela Rosa and Padilla inside the vehicle.

As for Cariño, he supposedly owned the subdivision unit in Angeles City, Pampanga, which authorities raided last week. “The people should understand that a subpoena does not mean you are already an accused,” Matibag clarified yesterday. “You are subpoenaed so you can give a reason, to shed light on a matter.”

Meanwhile, the NBI is still contemplating whether it will subpoena Dela Rosa’s wife Nancy. Over the weekend, Sen. Panfilo Lacson dissuaded the bureau from asking her to testify, as it only amounts to a “lazy job.”

Matibag, who had spoken with Lacson about this, said the bureau only wants to know Nancy’s conversations with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano. “Cayetano was saying he received a message from Mrs. Dela Rosa that the shootout gave an opportunity for Sen. Bato to escape, so she was thanking Cayetano for this. If you look at that, we have to look at the angle, the motive as to why the shootout really happened,” the NBI chief stressed.

Source: philstar.com