Marilyn Cahatol

Article (news)

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1778567045336695870986_1545164584315559_4293535329938811103_n.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><em>Photo from Senate of the Philippines/Facebook</em></span></span></span>MANILA — Malacañang respects the Senate’s independence but senators should know the limitations of their powers, a Palace official said on Tuesday, a day after lawmakers allowed Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa to coop in his office to avoid arrest.</div><p>On Monday, some National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents who tried to serve the<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/11/icc-confirms-arrest-warrant-against-dela-rosa-2111"> International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant</a> against Dela Rosa were briefly detained in the Senate after senators placed the former police chief-turned-lawmaker under protective custody.</p><p>“It is within their power, their authority to decide within the Senate. Hindi panghihimasukan ng Palasyo kung ano man ang magiging desisyon ng Senado,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a Palace briefing.</p><p>“Ayaw natin pangunahan ang mga senador pero dapat alam nila ang batas dahil mambabatas sila. They should not go beyond the law,” she said.</p><p>Castro underscored that under the law, the Senate’s protective custody only covers charges which penalties are not more than 6 years.</p><p>“Alam po natin na ito ay may limitasyon,” she said.</p><p>“Ang nagsampa ng kaso sa ICC ay kapwa nating Pilipino. Mayroon tayong obligasyon sa Interpol na ang lahat ng dapat managot ay managot dahil dapat din natin proteksyunan yung mga nabiktima ng EJK (extra judicial killings),” she said.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/11/nbi-chief-matibag-dela-rosa-will-not-be-arrested-while-under-senate-custody-2308">NBI chief Matibag: Dela Rosa will not be arrested while under Senate custody</a></div><p>While the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, the existence of its own Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity gives the government the authority to arrest individuals charged with crimes against humanity, the Palace official said.</p><p>“Hindi pa namin maibibigay ang konkretong pahayag. Hahayaan po natin ang mga law enforcement agencies natin at ibang ahensya na nakapaloob dito ang magsalita tungkol dito,” she said.</p><p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been informed of the situation in the Senate, Castro said.</p><p>“Ang utos ng Pangulo sa law enforcement agencies sa lahat ng pagkakataon, hindi lang kay Senator Bato, ay dapat sumunod kung ano ang sinasabi ng batas,” she said.</p><p>“Hindi ba dapat kahit anong kulay natin, dapat sumusunod sa batas at pinapatupad ang batas?”</p><p>Malacañang distanced itself from question on how the administration intends to deal with the situation should there be a standoff between arresting officials and the Senate Sergeant at Arms.</p><p>“I do not want to speculate on matters like that. Mahirap mag-speculate kapag mainit ang issue… Wala pa po naibibigay sa akin tungkol diyan,” she said.</p><p>Dela Rosa earlier asked Marcos to protect him from being arrested by an international tribunal, but the Palace said that all parties to the crimes against humanity case filed before the ICC would be accorded due protection.</p><p>“Maski naman po yung mga EJK victims ay humihingi ng proteksyon sa gobyerno. Lahat naman po ay bibigyan ng proteksyon na naaayon sa batas,” Castro said. </p><p>“Kung maaresto man po siya, lahat ng karapatan bilang isang akusado ay ibibigay sa kaniya.”</p><p>Now that Dela Rosa has reappeared in the Senate after six months of hiding, Malacañang said it hopes the senator would now “appear every time he is asked to appear and perform his duties.”</p><p>Castro was also asked to comment on Dela Rosa’s quip that Marcos might be in the same situation after his presidential immunity ends in 2028.</p><p>“Kung ang pag-uusapan namin ay kung madadala siya (Marcos) sa The Hague, that’s impossible kasi ang Pangulo ay hindi nag-commit ng EJK,” she said.</p><p>The arrest warrant against Dela Rosa was supposedly issued in November 2025 after the ICC named the former police chief as among the co-conspirators in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity case.</p><p>Before being elected to the Senate in 2019, Dela Rosa led the Philippine National Police (PNP) and was the chief implementor of Duterte’s nationwide campaign against illegal drugs that saw thousands of suspected drug users and peddlers — including children — killed during police operations.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/12/-they-want-us-to-vanish-bato-blames-duterte-critics-for-icc-arrest-warrant-1309">&#x27;They want us to vanish&#x27;: Bato says ICC arrest warrant based on ‘fabrication’ by Duterte critics</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B9xDUYmRgPo?si=TMEyCWlaDF378hEW" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div>

<p>Malacañang respects the Senate’s independence but senators should know the limitations of their powers, a Palace official said on Tuesday, a day after lawmakers allowed Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa to coop in his office to avoid arrest.</p>

Malacañang respects the Senate’s independence but senators should know the limitations of their powers, a Palace official said on Tuesday, a day after lawmakers allowed Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa to coop in his office to avoid arrest.

Palace on Senate protection for Bato: Lawmakers should know their limitations under the law

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Palace on Senate protection for Bato: Lawmakers should know their limitations under the law

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 12, 2026 02:36 PM PHT

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Ronald Dela Rosa

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