Sen. Bato dela Rosa’s possible arrest in the Senate came up as National Bureau of Investigation agents attempted to serve a warrant inside the Upper Chamber, where he was placed under protective custody.
The senator emerged in the Senate building on Monday, May 11 after six months of non-attendance following claims that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has a warrant of arrest for him.
Dela Rosa made a dramatic return to the Senate to participate in a vote that oustedthen-Senate President Tito Sotto and installed then-Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate leader, before later running to the plenary hall amid the presence of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents, who, according to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, were there to serve a warrant issued in November 2025.
The development came as the House of Representatives voted on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
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The Senate is expected to convene as an impeachment court for a formal trial that could lead to her removal from office.
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Meanwhile, Dela Rosa alleged that NBI agents had attempted to block him from entering the Senate building upon his return.
The Senate was also placed on lockdown, with Senate personnel saying the move was meant to help identify the NBI agents who supposedly harassed the senator.
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta later moved to place Dela Rosa under Senate protective custody to ensure his security and allow him to address legal developments while availing himself of judicial remedies.
Amid the chase in Senate, the ICC has confirmed issuing an arrest warrant against Dela Rosa for his alleged criminal responsibility as an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the killings linked to the Duterte administration’s “War on Drugs” operations.
READ: ICC confirms it has issued arrest warrant for Duterte ally | Duterte ally in standoff with law enforcers after ICC arrest warrant
The ICC said that Dela Rosa’s alleged involvement amounts to the “crime against humanity of murder” allegedly committed between July 2016 and April 2018.
The senator spent the night in the Senate following the developments.
Cayetano said that Dela Rosa would not not be arrested following Senate Resolution 44 and the manifestation made by Marcoleta.
Amid discussions over his possible arrest, lawyer and commentator Mel Sta. Maria said that a senator may be arrested within Senate premises for crimes against humanity.
“There is no law expressly making the premises of the senate a safe haven for fugitives or those charged with the commission of a crime,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.
“A senator is only immune from arrest while the Senate is in session and if the penalty of the alleged crime is below six (6) years imprisonment. According to Republic Act No. 9851, crime against humanity where death occurred is punishable by reclusion perpetua (40 years),” Sta. Maria added, citing the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law.
“Republic Act No. 9851 provides that the Philippines can allow an international tribunal to investigate or try a persons charged of crime against humanity if it is already investigating or trying such persons and, if need be, deliver the said persons to the tribunal,” he continued.
Sta. Maria also said that the NBI personnel “are within their rights to run after a fugitive from justice or persons charged with a crime.”
“The Senate must NOT coddle and protect a fugitive. That is obstruction of justice. There is no law expressly providing a so-called ‘Senate Protective-Custody’ as an exemption to the enforcement of a warrant of arrest. Unless stopped by the Supreme Court, the enforcement of a valid arrest must proceed. No one is above the law,” he said.
Former Senate President Franklin Drilon, who served in the position three times, also weighed in.
“I don’t think that there is such a thing as a protective custody. If Bato remains in the Senate, then the NBI or the law enforcement may not choose to enforce the warrant out of courtesy to the institution, which is the Senate, or to Bato, as a senator,” he said in an interview.
“But protective custody, in my humble opinion, does not apply in this particular case,” Drilon added.
“There is no law which is that the senator can be protected, exempt from warrant of arrest, except if the crime for which he is charged is a minor offense with a penalty is six years or less and number two, the Senate is in session,” he continued.
Drilon also said that control over Senate premises rests with the Senate President, adding that Bato dela Rosa may stay there if permitted by the chamber’s leader.
As an example of senators being arrested within Senate premises, former senator Trillanes shared a video of his 2018 arrest for rebellion after then-president Rodrigo Duterte revoked his amnesty.
“Anong pinagsasabi ni Alan Cayetano na wala pang naa-aresto sa loob ng Senate? Eh, ano ‘to?” he wrote on social media.
“The arresting PNP personnel read to me the Miranda rights while I was at the Executive Lounge beside the Senate Session Hall. Sumama ako sa mga pulis na nag-aresto sa’kin,” Trillanes added.
Anong pinagsasabi ni Alan Cayetano na wala pang naa-aresto sa loob ng Senate? Eh, ano ‘to? Back in 2018, Makati RTC issued a warrant against me for rebellion and it was served by the PNP while the Senate was in session. The arresting PNP personnel read to me the Miranda rights… pic.twitter.com/SjrGHzZIFw
— Sonny Trillanes IV (@TrillanesSonny) May 11, 2026
Apart from Trillanes, Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal Party-list) was also arrested in the Senate in 2017 over cases related to the illegal drug trade. She has since been cleared of all charges.
— with reports from Philstar.com/Ian Laqui
