Sen. Robin Padilla accompanies fellow senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa as he files his certificate of candidacy for the 2025 midterm elections in Manila on October 3, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — Sen. Robin Padilla on Wednesday said that he would appear before the Department of Justice (DOJ) to address an obstruction of justice complaint linked to the supposed escape of fugitive Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa from the Senate earlier in May.
Padilla maintained that he did not help Dela Rosa evade arresting authorities even if the fugitive lawmaker boarded the actor-turned-politician’s vehicle to leave the Senate days after he sought refuge in its premises following the release of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
“OA (overacting) naman, walang pagtakas na naganap. Napanood naman natin lahat,” Padilla said.
“Mayroon bang ganoong tumakas? Dalawang libong pulis ang nandito? Siya po ay sumakay lang sa aking sasakyan… hindi naman po magsisinungaling ang CCTV,” he told reporters in a press conference.
Padilla’s role in Dela Rosa escape ‘indispensable’—CIDG
“Wala naman pong humarang sa amin na pulis kasi kung may humarang naman, bakit naman kami aalis?”
In late 2025, Dela Rosa went into hiding after reports that the ICC had issued an arrest warrant against him as a co-perpetrator in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
Dela Rosa appeared in the Senate in May to help elect Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President, and ran across the building to evade officials who were serving his warrant from the ICC.
The former police chief-turned-legislator holed up in his office for several days after the Senate, under the Cayetano leadership, maintained that officials cannot serve a warrant against a senator inside the legislative institution.
After a shooting incident at the Senate, Dela Rosa was seen boarding Padilla’s tinted vehicle to leave the premises in the wee hours of May 14.
DOJ summons Padilla over Dela Rosa escape
Padilla said he has no hard feelings against the Philippine National Police (PNP), which filed the complaint against him before the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service.
“Wala tayong hinanakit sa pulis, trabaho nila yun. May kaniya-kaniya tayong trabaho pero kung opinyon ko ang tatanungin ninyo, wala akong ginawang itinakas,” he said.
“Kung ako ay inaakusahan ng ganoon, natural lang na gawin ng pulis yun. Ayos lang yun, ganoon talaga kung sa palagay nilang may nangyaring krimen,” he said.
“Pag politikal na opinyon, oo, pero siyempre kailangan mayroon tayong politikal na opinyon at mayroon tayo bilang mamamayan. Bilang mamamayan, ayos lang ito, dadaanan natin ito, mayroon naman tayong abogado, kumpleto naman tayo sa batas, naniniwala naman tayo sa due process.”
‘Wala namang humarang sa amin’: Padilla says Dela Rosa dropped off in Makati after Senate exit
Padilla’s lawyer Julius Henry Balteza declined to expound on their camp’s defense for the senator.
“At this time, we find it inappropriate to discuss… What we maintain is that the acts of Sen. Padilla were neither unlawful nor illegal,” he said.
While Padilla is bent on appearing before the NPS on September 25 and October 9, the lawmaker noted that he would continue to participate in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial as a senator-judge.
“Sa Diyos lang ako takot. Wala akong kinatatakutan na nakikita ko,” Padilla said, when asked if he saw the complaint as a form of intimidation from the administration.
“Ang kaso ko ay nagmula sa warrant of arrest ng ICC na isang dayuhan. Parang pakiramdam ko discriminated ako sa usapin ng, sana dalhin na lang sa ICC ang kaso tutal sila ang nagsasabi na doon ako nagkaroon ng pagkakamali para medyo mataas ang pride ko,” he said.
“Proud naman ako na dayuhan ang kalaban ko kasi parang masakit naman na ang nagrereklamo sa akin ay kapwa Pilipino, masakit para sa akin yun,” he said.
CCTV shows Dela Rosa, Padilla leaving Senate after May 13 gunfire
Padilla underscored that a warrant from a local court was never presented during Dela Rosa’s attempted arrest earlier this year.
“Ako’y naliligayahan sapagkat alam naman natin na itong binabato sa akin ay galing sa mga dayuhan,” he said.
“Parang ‘yung aking pagiging Katipunero ay nabibigyang buhay.”
Dela Rosa hiding from ‘kidnapper’ — Padilla