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MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano defended Sen. Bato Dela Rosa's departure from the Senate, arguing there was "nothing illegal" about the International Criminal Court-wanted senator leaving the chamber.
Cayetano, at a press conference Thursday, May 14 after a gunfire incident at the Senate Wedneday night, also read Dela Rosa's wife's message where she apologized for the "confusion and havoc" caused by his situation.
Cayetano said he was informed by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada around lunchtime Thursady that Dela Rosa was no longer inside the Senate building.
He also said Dela Rosa left with Sen. Robin Padilla, although he later qualified that he was unsure whether they left together or simply both left the premises.
"There's nothing illegal. Unlike the former majority, which keeps looking at every single detail on the CCTV. We're focused on the attack on the Senate," Cayetano said.
Earlier reports said Dela Rosa left the Senate building at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, in a Bloomberg report, said Dela Rosa "left in the fog of war." Asked by Philstar.com if Dela Rosa had indeed left, Remulla replied, "Yes."
The Bureau of Immigration also said Dela Rosa has no recorded travel out of the Philippines.
Wife apologizes for 'escape'
Cayetano read part of a message from Dela Rosa's wife, Nancy, who apologized for what she described as the "confusion and havoc" caused by her husband's situation in the Senate.
"Sa 13, sabi niya wag sana sayangin yung sakripisyo ni Senator Bato. She hopes that we stick together," Cayetano said, referring to the 13-member Senate majority bloc.
(To the 13, she said she hopes Senator Bato's sacrifice will not go to waste. She hopes that they stick together.)
Cayetano said Dela Rosa's wife relayed that the senator believed the situation in the Senate was worsening the longer he stayed there, so he decided to "escape."
"It is for this reason, I am sure that Ronald, in quotation marks, 'escape,'" Cayetano said, reading from the message.
"He told me na habang tumatagal siya diyan sa loob, eh mas nadadamay pa kayo," he added.
(He told me that the longer he stayed there, the more all of you were being dragged into the situation.)
Cayetano, however, said that "escape" should not be applied to Dela Rosa's decision to flee the Senate's protective custody since there was no standing arrest warrant against him.
The ICC, however, confirmed Monday that Dela Rosa is accused of charges of crimes against humanity of murder, releasing the warrant and naming him as wanted.
Cayetano on Bato custody
The turmoil began on Monday, May 11, when Dela Rosa appeared at the Senate after six months of absence.
Dela Rosa is wanted by the International Criminal Court over the Duterte administration's drug war. On Monday, National Bureau of Investigation agents allegedly tried to serve the ICC warrant, prompting Cayetano to grant him Senate protective custody.
Cayetano said the move was meant to prevent Dela Rosa from being arrested before he could seek judicial remedies.
Senate President Allan Peter Cayetano speaks at a press conference on May 14, 2026, the day after the gunfire incident at the Senate compound.
Philstar.com / Martin Ramos
He has maintained that a Philippine court warrant, or a Supreme Court ruling recognizing an ICC warrant as equivalent to a Philippine court warrant, is needed before Dela Rosa can be arrested.
"Philippine court or a Supreme Court decision saying that an ICC warrant is as good as a Philippine court warrant," Cayetano said.
He insisted that the Senate was not shielding Dela Rosa personally, but protecting the institution.
"What we're protecting actually is the sanctity of the Senate in the House. Like any other citizen, he has his rights," Cayetano said.
Gunfire at Senate
Cayetano said a staff member of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms was attacked by alleged NBI agents and later brought to a hospital.
On Wednesday, May 13, gunshots were heard near the Senate compound. Cayetano said Senate security personnel, composed of the OSAA, members of the Philippine Marines and the Philippine National Police, fired warning shots at alleged NBI agents, citing information from Remulla.
At a Palace briefing on Thursday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag confirmed that NBI agents were at the GSIS building beside the Senate.
Matibag, however, denied the bureau's hand and said its agents were there at the request of GSIS President Wick Veloso to secure the area, not to arrest Dela Rosa.
