Sotto, 4 other senators urge Dela Rosa to surrender

MANILA, May 13 ------ Five members of the new Senate Minority led by former Senate President Vicente Sotto III have publicly urged Senator Ronald dela Rosa to surrender.

Sotto, fellow Senators Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Panfilo Lacson filed proposed Senate Resolution 395 which urges dela Rosa to voluntarily surrender to the proper judicial authorities and seek judicial remedies in accordance with the Constitution and applicable laws.

The resolution said the Senate should affirm its commitment to the Constitution, rule of law and accountability of public officials. It added that the Senate has no constitutional or statutory authority to provide protective custody or sanctuary from lawful arrest, surrender or judicial processes.

It said the Senate under the Constitution only has limited privilege from arrest for lawmakers while Congress is in session and for offenses punishable by not more than 6 years imprisonment. "Neither the Constitution nor the Rules of the Senate contain any provision authorizing the Senate to grant protective custody, institutional refuge, or immunity from lawful arrest or surrender processes pursuant to existing laws, treaties or international cooperation mechanisms." "The Senate has historically respected judicial and prosecutorial processes involving its own members and former officials, including the voluntary surrender and judicial submission of the late former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the resort to legal remedies and court proceedings by former Senator and now Congresswoman Leila de Lima, and the judicial recourse undertaken by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV."

However Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano called out the proponents of the resolution. "Well, it's very obvious to me they didn't want him to appear. Nung wala siya dito, dapat daw nandito siya. Nung nandito siya, may humabol sa kanya. Ngayon nandito siya, urging to surrender. Okay, so ito ang tanong ko sa mga senador na nag-u-urge. 'Pag naglabas ng ICC ng warrant laban sa mga Cabinet members, laban sa mga general natin, laban sa mga progressive leaders that they will accuse of mass graves and everything, payag ba sila na lahat 'yan pulutin na lang tapos dalhin sa Hague? O dapat dumaan sa korte?" he said.

Cayetano said dela Rosa will only surrender if it is a Philippine court that orders his arrest and he is allowed all legal remedies. "So take out the name Bato. Ako kahit kalaban ko, kahit a person I don't like, I want him to have all the legal remedies, to exhaust all the legal remedies. So yun lang payo ko sa kabila. You know, don't be personal. Think of what's better for the country. Think what's better for the institution," he said. "We respect their opinion but, Senator Bato should be given the opportunity to exhaust all legal remedies. It should be a Philippine warrant. This is a good test case. In the future, you will thank Senator Bato for standing up for his right na dapat Philippine court. This is not a matter whether guilty siya o hindi. In fact, he can be investigated here for the extrajudicial killings. So this is a question of, uh, our constitution versus a foreign court," Cayetano added.

Cayetano claimed that the former majority did not want dela Rosa in the Senate. "You know, i-in politics, you don't always want your opponent to be there, but you don't wish them to be shipped off to a foreign country." Cayetano left it to the public to decide if the Sotto group is pursuing the resolution to reclaim the Senate Presidency. "I'll not go into their intentions kasi it's unparliamentary. So bahala na tao humusga. But what I'm just saying is that we shouldn't be personal. We should not look anong partido niya, sino siya, 'di ba? So, uh, naging ganun na politika natin, naging algorithm eh. Pagka kampi, parang fraternity na. 'Pag may rumble, kahit mali brod mo, eh yun ang brod mo, kampihan mo na. So medyo for me, that's, that's wrong."

Dela Rosa was the 13th senator who ousted Sotto from the Senate Presidency. Cayetano said that the Sergeant At Arms report indicated Sotto knew of the arrest warrant against dela Rosa.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com