The Tamesis
May 14, 2026
Manila – Opposition coalition 1Sambayan said the new Senate leadership’s decision to place Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa in “protective custody” may amount to obstruction of justice and cannot be considered to enjoy parliamentary immunity.
In a statement released Wednesday, the coalition described the Senate action as a “dangerous abuse of agency power” that could violate Presidential Decree 1829 or punish laws that impede the apprehension and prosecution of criminals.
“No chamber of Congress is above the rule of law. The Senate is a constitutional body whose mission is to uphold the law, not to shield individuals from liability,” 1Sambayan said.
Read: Bato dela Rosa fails to obtain TRO and ICC arrest warrants
“Any action aimed at concealing, harboring or preventing the lawful arrest and transfer of persons facing charges of crimes against humanity undermines domestic and international justice mechanisms,” the statement added.
The group issued the statement after Dela Rosa sought refuge inside the Senate complex as the National Bureau of Investigation attempts to serve an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for her role in the Duterte administration’s deadly war on drugs.
READ: Shots fired as Senate offers asylum to Bartow de la Rosa
Dela Rosa’s allies placed him in “protective custody” following the sudden change in leadership.
1Sambayan was founded in 2021 by civil society leaders, including former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio as chief convener, former Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno and former electoral commissioner Rene Sarmiento.
appeal to comrades
Dela Rosa went live on social media on Wednesday afternoon to call on Filipinos to go to the Senate, following reports that law enforcement officials were going to arrest him.
“I call on all of you to help me. Let us not allow another Filipino to fly to The Hague right after President Duterte,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino.
But de la Rosa clarified that he was not calling for violence.
“I call for peaceful prayer gatherings,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, he issued a similar appeal to his fellow Knights for “peaceful support” free from “foreign interference.” He even sang the school song of the Philippine Military Academy. (See story on page A2.)
“The issue here is not political, not anything, but preserving the sovereignty of the Philippines — we will not allow foreign powers to interfere with us,” he said.
“If they want to hang me, if they want to crucify me, let it be in our Filipino courts, not in front of foreigners,” he added.
“Don’t be too anxious”
Late Tuesday, five senators — Francis Pangilinan, Vincent Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, Rizal Hontiveros and Bam Aquino — submitted a resolution urging Dela Rosa to “voluntarily surrender to the relevant authorities and seek judicial remedies in accordance with the Constitution and applicable laws and rules.”
In response, De La Rosa told his colleagues not to be too eager to throw him into jail.
“[…] They shouldn’t be too eager to put me in jail. That would be too much. We were in the Senate together for so many years and yet they made it so easy for me to surrender because they knew full well that this was a foreign court,” he said.
He also said he would exhaust available legal remedies.
He also insisted that the ICC should not enforce its arrest warrant because the Philippines is no longer a member of the Rome Statute.
“Legally untenable”
“Why do we insist on executing the arrest warrant issued by the ICC? We have no obligation,” he said.
1Sambayan insisted that defending de la Rosa’s parliamentary immunity was “legally untenable”.
It cited Article 6, Section 11, of the 1987 Constitution, which states that MPs enjoy the privilege of immunity from arrest only if they are guilty of an offense not exceeding six years’ imprisonment.
“The purpose of granting legislators a shield for crimes against humanity was never to evade accountability for serious international crimes,” the report said. “It exists to protect legislative independence, not to obstruct the administration of justice or frustrate lawful processes arising from allegations of crimes against humanity.”
