Sen. Robin Padilla Reacts To Complaints vs. Him over Sen. Bato dela Rosa’s “Escape”
ROBIN PADILLA – The minority Senator spoke on the accusations against him over Sen. Bato dela Rosa;s “escape” from Senate premises.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa is considered a fugitive from the law as declared by the Department of Justice. According to the DOJ, the arrest warrant against dela Rosa is valid. The Philippine authorities ordered his arrest but he’s nowhere to be found now.
Dela Rosa went into ‘hiding’ for around six months after Ombudsman Boying Remulla claimed that the ICC has released the arrest warrant against him. He did not attend the Senate session since November and it was only recently when he appeared in public again.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa was one of the senators who voted to oust former Senate President Tito Sotto and replace him with now-former SP Alan Peter Cayetano. Shortly after the change of leadership on the chamber, an alleged “fake attack” took place.
Amid the said firing incident inside the Senate which Pres. Bongbong Marcos called “fake”, Sen. Bato dela Rosa was able to exit the Senate premises. Sen. Robin Padilla admitted to being the one who was with Dela Rosa when he left the chamber.
Sen. Robin Padilla earned criticisms from allegedly being an accomplice in the supposed “escape” of Sen. Bato dela Rosa. A complaint was filed against him before the Ombudsman.
Recently, through a Facebook post, Sen. Robin Padilla reacted to the complaint filed against him before the Ombudsman by civic leader Kiko Aquino Dee. He is one of the members of Tindig Pilipinas and he is the grandson of the late former Sen. Ninoy Aquino and the late former Pres. Cory Aquino.
“Una Sulat sa akin ng ombudsman sa reklamo ni kiko Aquino na ipinaglaban ng tatay ko ang lola niya na si FP Corazon Aquino sa edsa 1, sumunod na publisidad ay sa DOJ na naghahanda din ng kaso at magdadamay pa ng mga kasama ko daw sa pagtakas ni Senator Bato dela Rosa.
Balakid po ito sapagkat ang panagutin sa isang bagay na walang basehan maliban pa na galing sa isang dayuhang warrant of arrest ang pinagmumulan ng panggigipit ay isang balakid,” Padilla wrote in his post.
Sen. Robin Padilla further stated that it is also a financial challenge to him as getting a lawyer is not cheap. He also stressed that his wife and their young daughters are not used to cases and his aged mother is used to having him in the house.
“Pilipinas ito bakit ang isang halal na senador ay kakasuhan dahil sa warrant of arrest ng dayuhan… Naglakad lang kami at sumakay sa sasakyan sa harap ng mahigit na isang libo na pulis,” he said.
The Senator further stressed in his post that there was allegedly the presence of the SWAT team, the CIDG, the police and patrolman, and the PSPG but no one stopped them. According to him, Secretary of Interior and Local Government (SILG) Jonvic Remulla said that there was no warrant against Sen. Dela Rosa.
Previously, amid the criticisms against him, Sen. Robin Padilla maintained that he will not speak about the whereabouts of Sen. Bato dela Rosa even if he knows about it.