Robin Padilla gets DOJ subpoena over Bato dela Rosa escape - GMA Network

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a subpoena to Senator Robin Padilla in connection with the complaint filed against him by the Philippine National Police (PNP) for obstruction of justice over Senator Ronald Bato Dela Rosa’s departure from the Semate premises amid an ICC warrant against him.

According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Nimfa Ravello of Super Radyo dzBB, the DOJ subpoenaed Padilla to appear before the panel of prosecutors and to submit his counter-affidavit on September 25, Friday, and October 9, Friday.

In a Facebook post, Padilla said, “A subpoena has arrived.”

In a statement, DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez confirmed that subpoenas were served on Padilla and Lt. Col. Jean Alla Yasin Robles "at around 2:30 p.m. today at the Senate, in connection with the pending complaint against them for alleged violation of PD 1829 (Obstruction of Justice)."

The PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a complaint against Padilla and others in May for allegedly helping Dela Rosa escape.

Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant for “alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator” in the crimes against humanity of murder from July 3, 2016, until the end of April 2018, wherein at least 32 persons died.

The CIDG in May said that the shooting incident at the Senate and the escape of Dela Rosa were “related.”

Authorities tried to serve the warrant on Dela Rosa on May 11, leading to a chase inside the Senate building.

He was later placed under protective custody by the Senate but slipped out of the chamber's premises on May 14.

He has not appeared in public since.

Padilla, for his part, previously said that he did not help Dela Rosa escape, saying the former police chief only asked to hitch a ride with him out of the Senate building on May 14.

He is also facing an obstruction of justice complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The PNP said in May that Dela Rosa was seen leaving the Senate premises shortly after the shooting incident in a vehicle registered to Padilla.

PNP chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. disclosed this during a Palace briefing, as he showed video footage of a white Toyota Fortuner exiting the Senate complex at around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 14.

“It shows a white Fortuner and personalities going out from the Senate. Particularly makita natin doon ang (we could see there particularly) Senator Bato and Senator Robin Padilla going to the vehicle na Fortuner,” Nartatez said, describing the unreleased footage.

Padilla, in an interview on "24 Oras," admitted that the vehicle seen leaving the Senate premises in the wee hours of May 14 belongs to him.

“Ay, opo, opo, sasakyan ko po ‘yan. Nakita niyo naman, ayan ang pinaka-humble na sasakyan sa Senate, Fortuner lang,” Padilla said.

(Oh yes, yes, that is my vehicle. As you can see, that’s the most humble vehicle in the Senate—just a Fortuner.)

But when asked if the vehicle was carrying Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who reportedly escaped the Senate, Padilla responded with a laugh: “Antayin na lang natin yung imbestigasyon.”

(Let us wait for the investigation.) –NB, GMA News