Senate rules review sought after Bato’s long absence
BAGUIO CITY—It is time for the Senate to review its rules on nonattendance, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said amid the monthslong absence of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa from the chamber,
Dela Rosa may face an ethics complaint over his absence to be filed by former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the latter said last January.
Asked why the Senate couldn’t sanction Dela Rosa, Lacson answered, “Because there’s nothing in our rules. We have rules for continued absences in committees. They lose their membership in that committee. But, as far as the plenary, we don’t have a rule.”
“I think we should revisit the rules of the Senate para mag-amend, to incorporate situations like that of Senator Bato,” Lacson said at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming at Fort Gregorio del Pilar on Saturday.
Dela Rosa has been absent from the Senate since November, when Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla insisted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) would soon issue a warrant to arrest the senator over his involvement in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
Widely regarded as the architect of Duterte’s drug war, which killed thousands of Filipinos, Dela Rosa was the Philippine National Police chief from 2016 to 2018.
Pressed on what action the Senate will take on the looming ethics complaint against Dela Rosa, Lacson replied: “We’re taking about what action to take in the case of Senator Dela Rosa, but there’s no consensus yet … We’ll just cross the bridge when we get there.”
On allowing arrest
Last week, Dela Rosa, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s former aid and six others were named as the co-perpetrators in the ICC case against the ex-president.
In response, Lacson said the ICC should course any warrant to arrest Duterte’s alleged co-perpetrators through Philippine courts first, citing Article III, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution.
In the interview on Saturday, Lacson further cited Article VI, Section 11, which states:
“A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session. No Member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in any committee thereof.”
“I’m not a lawyer, but I’m consulting with legal experts, even retired Supreme Court justices, before I express my legal opinion. That is the legal opinion I got,” Lacson noted.
“But, at the end of the day, at the proper time, it is only the Supreme Court that can interpret what is right,” said the senator, who is a member of the PMA Class of 1971. Dela Rosa, on the other hand, is a member of the PMA Class of 1986.
