AFTER around six months of absence from the Senate, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa showed up on Monday, May 11, 2026.
An angry Dela Rosa took the Senate plenary floor, saying he had to wrestle with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) personnel who allegedly tried to prevent him from entering.
“Kung ako ay absent, hinahanap na ako ninyo, sumusweldo hindi nagpapakita, ngayon nagpapakita ako dito, hinarang ako ng mga NBI ni-wrestling ako doon nagka sugat-sugat ako,” he said as he showed his wounded fingers.
(If I’m absent, you look for me and say I’m receiving a salary without showing up. Now that I’m here, I was blocked by the NBI, they wrestled with me there, and I ended up with scratches and injuries.)
“This is the Senate. Wala silang respeto sa institution ng Senado (They have no respect to the Senate as an institution),” he added.
Newly elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said the NBI, along with former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, is in the Senate building to “effect an arrest.”
“For the information, the initial report of the sergeant-at-arms is that the NBI is claiming that they’re here to arrest Senator Bato but they do not have an arrest warrant,” he said.
“So far, there is no information that the NBI informed the Senate which by tradition no law enforcement agency has ever come to the Senate in secret to affect an arrest. Usually, they have an arrest warrant and they coordinate with the Office of the Senate President and the Senate President calls a caucus to get the details,” he added.
The Senate has implemented a lockdown in which no one is allowed to get inside and outside the Senate premises.
In an interview with reporters, Trillanes claimed they have a valid arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Dela Rosa, who was identified as a co-perpetrator of detained former President Rodrigo Duterte in the crimes against humanity during the implementation of his drug war.
Dela Rosa has not attended any Senate sessions and any public events since November 2025, after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the ICC had issued a warrant of arrest against him. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)