Senate security forces could have done a better job. They had time to prepare. They put on bulletproof vests and other protective gear much earlier, a sign that they already sensed danger. If they believed the situation could turn violent, they should have moved quickly to protect journalists, senators, Senate employees, and other people in the area before the chaos erupted after gunshots were fired near the Senate premises.
Their failure placed lives at risk. It also raised more questions about what really happened that day. The chaos endangered not only journalists but also others. It also created the opportunity for Senator Ronald dela Rosa to leave the Senate and avoid arrest. Whether intended or not, the scene bolstered suspicions that the disorder was staged.
No matter the many denials by the current Senate leadership, the fact remains that dela Rosa used the chaos at the Senate premises to escape arrest. Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police chief and one of the most visible faces of then President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, has an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
The media should never be placed in danger simply to lend credibility to a supposed attack. If the Senate were truly under threat, then security should explain why civilians were not moved out sooner. Journalists were there to wait for developments. Part of their work, at times, is to face threats to their personal safety. They are trained to secure themselves and to remember that no story is worth dying for. But when people in authority sense danger and still fail to secure the area, then the public deserves some answers.
Broader Implications of the Chaos
The impact of the chaotic situation and dela Rosa's escape goes beyond the Senate political drama. It has a civic and human cost that ordinary Filipinos will eventually pay. To the families of victims of the Duterte drug war, the impact is immediate. Justice has been denied them again. Their loved ones were not given the benefit of due process when they were killed without trial. In escaping arrest, dela Rosa has shown he can ignore the rules of due process. Due process should be observed, and observed by everyone. That is the point.
The indirect impact is a country more divided and more scared. People know that public disorder has a price. They may not see it immediately, but they eventually pay for it. They pay through taxes spent on security, investigations, emergency meetings, legal maneuvering, and the endless political management of crises created by the officials themselves. They pay when government attention is diverted from prices and jobs, and when institutions that should protect the public instead protect the powerful.
Will a weakened Senate lead to higher prices of goods? Not directly, but weak institutions create the conditions that make life more expensive. That is the bigger meaning of what happened at the Senate.
