Jonvic Remulla to Senate: NBI had no warrant of arrest vs Dela Rosa
MANILA, Philippines— The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had no warrant of arrest against Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa when its agents were spotted near the Senate building on Wednesday, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s report to the Senate.
At the request of Wick Veloso, general manager of the Government Service Insurance System, the NBI sent 21 agents to secure the GSIS Building, which also houses the Senate, where Dela Rosa was holed up amid a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The agents arrived at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Remulla’s text message to Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who read it in a press conference on Thursday.
“Twenty-one total arrived,” Cayetano said, still quoting Remulla. “They were deployed on each floor to secure the GSIS area.”
One of the agents, identified only as Francisco, “was sitting down on the second floor bridge way with a blue guard” when his attention was called by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca.
“Who are you?” Aplasca was quoted in Filipino as asking Francisco, who, according to the text message, stood up with an AR-15 in a sideways sling.
“Aplasca immediately fired a warning shot. Francisco pulled the trigger as well, [the firearm] pointed up,” Remulla went on.
“OSAA eventually discharged 27 rounds of 9mm and 40 sw [.40-caliber S&W] ammunition. Francisco discharged 5 rounds. He immediately fled the scene after,” the text further read.
Osaa is the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (Osaa).
READ: Shots fired in Senate as it gives Bato dela Rosa refuge
The sound of gunshots at 7:46 p.m. sent journalists fleeing for cover, just minutes after heavily armed personnel of Osaa, police, and Marines were seen converging on the second floor of the Senate.
The Senate, under Cayetano’s leadership, took custody of dela Rosa, who only resurfaced last Monday after a six-month-long absence from the chamber since the issuance of the ICC’s arrest order against him.
The arrest was in relation to Dela Rosa’s role in the Duterte drug war when he was the chief of the Philippine National Police. /atm
