LIST: Senators who were arrested while in office
Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa may seek refuge in the Senate if the International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for him, Senate President Chiz Escudero said.
Escudero told the former Philippine National Police chief that the Senate will "try to afford" him every opportunity to avail of legal remedies he's entitled to.
“Hindi para sa akin na pigilan si Sen. Bato na magtungo dito. Desisyon niya 'yun. Pero ang hangganan siguro noon ay hanggang makakuha at klaro na kung anong magiging pasya ng korte kaugnay sa kanyang pag avail ng kanyang judicial remedies na karapatan niya,” he said at a press conference on March 17.
Escudero noted that this has been the senate’s “tradition” and an institutional courtesy.
“Hindi papayagan ng Senado arestuhin ang sinomang miyembro niya sa loob ng Senado lalo na kung may sesyon,”
“Wala sa batas 'yan pero nasa rules ng senado at institutional courtesy lamang iyan, hindi naman sa habang panahon, hangga’t mabigyan siya ng sapat na panahon nag magkaroon ng linaw o pagpapasiya yung kaniyang judicial remedies,” he reiterated.
This came after Dela Rosa said that he would seek the Senate’s protection should the International Criminal Court warrant of arrest be issued against him.
ICC assistant to counsel Atty. Kristina Conti said that there were two other names mentioned in the arrest warrant for former president Rodrigo Duterte: former PNP chiefs Dela Rosa and Oscar Albayalde.
According to Section 11, Article 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, a senator or member of House of Representatives shall be privileged from arrest while Congress is in session in all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment.
“No member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in Congress or in any committee thereof,” it added.
The privilege is not to protect the members from prosecutors but to “support the rights of the people” by allowing representatives to work without fear of prosecution, civil or criminal.
While lawmakers enjoy this privilege, some senators have been arrested while in office.
Juan Ponce Enrile
Enrile was arrested twice in his long stint in the Senate. The first was in 1990 when he was charged with rebellion complexed with murder for his alleged participation in a military coup against then-president Cory Aquino.
At the time, former Senate President Jovito Salonga prohibited NBI agents from serving the warrant on Enrile while a Senate session was in progress. He later surrendered to NBI agents outside the Senate building after delivering a speech.
He was also arrested during his term in 2014 by the anti-graft court for the P172-million plunder charge from the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam.
He was acquitted of the charges in October 2024 "due to the prosecution's failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt."
Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan
Honasan was accused by the Arroyo administration, his first term in the Senate, of staging the failed Oakwood mutiny in 2003. He was charged by the Justice Department with staging a coup d’ etat, which was later junked by the Makati court in 2007 due to lack of evidence.
It wasn’t clear whether Honasan sought protection from the Senate but Franklin Drilon, the senate president at the time, said that Honasan “cannot invoke congressional immunity” and he could be arrested once the charges were filed.
"Theoretically, if the charges are filed, and I emphasize on a theoretical basis, only for the purposes of giving you a background of the Constitution," he said, per The Philippine STAR.
In Philippine law, coup d’etat is punishable with reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment or reclusion temporal or 12 to 20 years imprisonment—this makes the former senator ineligible for the exemption.
Panfilo Lacson
Lacson was allegedly involved in the 2000 double murder case of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. He went into hiding outside the country in 2010 for 14 months. However, he maintained he was not guilty of the charge.
Enrile, who was the senate president at the time, said that Lacson cannot use his immunity.
“He will not enjoy parliamentary immunity (because) the penalty is more than six years. So if we are not in session or even if we are in session, he could be arrested,” Enrile said at the time, noting that the double murder charges are non-bailable and are not covered by the immunity.
In 2011, the Supreme Court affirmed a Court of Appeals decision to clear Lacson of the double murder charge.
Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla
In 2014, Estrada and Revilla were among those charged with plunder and graft for their involvement in the pork barrel scam, along with Enrile and Janet Napoles.
Then-Senate President Drilon provided immunity for the senators at the time by not allowing the authorities to serve the arrest warrant in the session hall or the Senate.
Estrada and Revilla surrendered to the authorities a day later.
Estrada has been acquitted of plunder but was convicted of bribery in 2024. Meanwhile, Revilla was cleared of the plunder charges in 2018 but was ordered to return P124 million in public funds.
Leila De Lima
De Lima, known as a staunch critic of Duterte, was arrested in 2017 for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade during her stint as a justice secretary from 2010 to 2015 under Noynoy Aquino’s administration.
At the time, former senate president Koko Pimentel allowed her to seek refuge for a night. She surrendered to the authorities in the morning the next day.
De Lima was released on bail in 2023 and acquitted of all drug-related charges in 2024 because the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of all accused beyond reasonable doubt in her last drug case.
Antonio Trillanes IV
In 2018, Trillanes sought refuge in the Senate after Duterte nullified his amnesty and ordered his arrest for his involvement in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula Incident.
Then-Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said at the time they will not allow any senator to be arrested in the Senate premises “to preserve its dignity."
He decided to go home after three weeks of staying in the Senate following the Makati court’s deferment of the issuance of the warrant of arrest and the hold departure order against him over coup d'etat charges.
In April 2024, the Supreme Court ruled his amnesty to be valid and that its revocation, through Proclamation No. 572, was unconstitutional.
