The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Monday said the Senate has lost the privilege of providing protective custody over its members in cases of arrests when Sen. Ronald dela Rosa escaped its premises. “Nung nakawala si Bato [When Sen. Bato escaped], you lost that privilege already,” Remulla told reporters in a briefing at Camp Crame. Remulla said the law enforcement’s side following Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano’s attempt to block the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who is the subject of a Sandiganbayan Fifth Division warrant for plunder. Cayetano argued with arresting officers invoking “respect for the institution” emphasizing that no senator was ever arrested inside Senate premises. The Senate President tried to convince police officers to walk out of the Senate and arrest Estrada there but authorities pushed through and arrested the lawmaker after his speech. Cayetano accompanied Estrada to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters at Camp Crame where the latter was subjected to standard booking procedures, mugshot taking and medical examination to assess his fitness for trial. Immediately after, Estrada was brought to the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division which decided that he would be detained at the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Brgy. Payatas. Dela Rosa, who is now the subject of a nationwide manhunt amid the implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for his alleged role in the Duterte administration's drug war, left the Senate after the May 13 shooting. Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) attempted to arrest the lawmaker. Subjected to Senate protective custody, Cayetano and the NBI went into an agreement that Dela Rosa will not be arrested but the Senate shall produce him when the time comes that he is needed. This however did not happen because Dela Rosa left on the early hours of May 14 with Sen. Robin Padilla.
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