Ombudsman confirms Sen. Padilla responded to obstruction raps

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Robin Padilla replied to the obstruction of justice complaint against him, the Office of the Ombudsman said Friday.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed that Padilla has indeed submitted a counter-affidavit.

He explained that the senator’s counter-affidavit was not logged in their central records system and was instead submitted to the division investigating the complaint against him.

Robin Padilla summons

On July 17, Remulla said Padilla had “ignored” the summons of the Office of the Ombudsman to submit a counter-affidavit to the complaint-affidavit filed against him over alleged assistance in Senator Bato Dela Rosa’s “escape.”

Padilla denied ignoring the Ombudsman’s summons, saying he submitted his complaint-affidavit on July 9, but Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the document did not appear in their system.

READ: Padilla denies ignoring Ombudsman’s summons

“In fact, I wrote to Senator Padilla about this because there was a problem in this office,” Remulla said in a press conference.

“I wrote to him to explain this,” he added.

Aside from Padilla, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and dismissed Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca are also subjects of the complaint filed by Tindig Pilipinas.

Cayetano and Aplasca have filed their respective counter-affidavits.

On May 11, armed with the International Criminal Court warrant, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents tried to arrest Dela Rosa when he surfaced in the Senate after hiding for more than six months.

But the senator managed to elude them and secure “protective custody” in the chamber, granted by Cayetano.

On May 13, the Senate standoff culminated in a shooting incident between Office of sergeant-at-arms personnel and NBI agents at the GSIS Complex where the Senate building is located.

Aplasca admittedly fired the warning shot, which prompted the NBI to also fire a warning shot.

After the tension prompted by the shooting incident, Dela Rosa went back into hiding after leaving the chamber’s premises with Padilla aboard the latter’s vehicle in the early hours of May 14.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has officially concluded that Dela Rosa’s transport to Padilla was not a “mere hitch ride” but “a highly coordinated, preplanned logistical maneuver specifically executed to avoid detection while escaping the Senate premises.” /cb

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