MANILA, Philippines — The escape of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa from the Senate on May 14 and the shooting incident in the facility hours earlier were found out to be “related,” the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.
“Let me just say na (that), you know, two incidents po yun (those two incidents), they’re related. The investigation is already with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and I do not want to pre-empt the DOJ,” Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander A. Morico II told reporters in a briefing at Camp Crame.
The chaotic standoff at the Senate was tagged by Dela Rosa’s legal team as "grave supervening events" which clearly demonstrate severe threat to the senator's life. Dela Rosa’s camp filed a "very urgent" manifestation with the Supreme Court seeking barring the Philippine government from cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued an arrest warrant against the senator for his alleged co-perpetrator role in the Duterte administration's drug war.
Morico clarified that the CIDG investigated the Senate shooting and Dela Rosa’s escape separately and refused to make conclusions as investigation was still ongoing.
“We base our facts on the evidence we get. We investigate the Senate shooting and the escape separately. We investigate the Senate shooting, the escape is also separate,” Morico said. “To make conclusions… The CIDG is only relegated to make investigative support,” Morico added.
