Fact check: Senators have been arrested inside Senate premises, contrary to Cayetano claim

MANILA, Philippines — Newly installed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano's claim that no senator has ever been arrested inside Senate premises is false. Two of the five former senators he named to support his claim — Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima — were arrested inside the Senate.

Cayetano made the statement Monday, May 11, after being freshly installed as the upper chamber's new leader, and as his first moves were to place Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa under protective custody. Dela Rosa is the subject of a warrant of arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"No senator was allowed to be arrested ever in the Senate premises. Enrile, Estrada, Revilla… I think… Trillanes. Apat na yun [That's four.] So si Leila, eh 'di lima na 'yun. [That's five.] Never been allowed arrested, and there's always coordination with the office of the Senate president," Cayetano said at the plenary.

Rating: This is false.

Facts

Trillanes was arrested inside the Senate on Sept. 25, 2018 while it was in session. 

The Philippine National Police served a warrant for rebellion issued by the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150, under then-Judge Elmo Alameda. 

The warrant followed then-President Rodrigo Duterte's revocation of the amnesty granted to Trillanes for his role in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege.

At least two news reports from The STAR and GMA News in 2018 state that Trillanes was waiting for National Capital Region Police Office chief Guillermo Eleazar and his team at the senators' lounge, after which he was escorted out of the Senate premises.

Trillanes was then taken to the Makati Police Station for booking. He posted P200,000 bail that same day.

The former senator also refuted Cayetano directly in a Facebook post Monday evening.

"Anong pinagsasabi ni Alan Cayetano na wala pang naa-aresto sa loob ng Senate? Eh, ano 'to? Back in 2018, Makati RTC issued a warrant against me for rebellion and it was served by the PNP while the Senate was in session," he wrote. "The arresting PNP personnel read to me the Miranda rights while I was at the Executive Lounge beside the Senate Session Hall. Sumama ako sa mga pulis na nag-aresto sakin."

De Lima was also arrested inside the Senate. The Muntinlupa RTC issued a warrant against her on Feb. 23, 2017, on drug trafficking charges, later condemned by international human rights bodies as politically motivated. 

Police first tried to serve the warrant at her home that night. She returned to her Senate office, where she spent the night.

On the morning of Feb. 24, 2017, De Lima turned herself over to the arresting authorities. From her Senate office in Room 502, she was escorted by the agents of the CIDG led by then-Chief Superintendent Roel Obusan. [x, x]

Both De Lima and Trillanes were vocal critics of former President Rodrigo Duterte, under whose term their arrests were carried out.

Cayetano was correct in saying former senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. were not arrested in the Senate.  But neither were the three at the Senate when the warrants for their arrest were issued, and none had police come for them there.

Revilla left his home and surrendered directly to the Sandiganbayan on June 20, 2014, the same morning the anti-graft court issued the warrant. 

Estrada turned himself over to police at Camp Crame on June 23, 2014, after leaving his Quezon City home and stopping at his parents' house in San Juan. 

Enrile left his Dasmariñas Village home in Makati and surrendered at Camp Crame on July 4, 2014, hours after the Sandiganbayan ordered his arrest. 

Why we fact-checked this

Cayetano invoked the supposed precedent on his first night as Senate president to justify placing Dela Rosa under protective custody and barring NBI agents from serving the ICC-linked warrant. 

He said the Senate under his leadership will entertain only arrest warrants issued by Philippine courts, citing Senate Resolution No. 44.

CCTV footage shown during Monday's session captured dela Rosa running up a fire exit and stumbling on the stairs to evade NBI agents before reaching the plenary, where he cast the 13th vote that installed Cayetano. 

The Senate later cited the NBI personnel in contempt and placed the building on lockdown.