Theater of the absurd
Ad absurdum is a Latin phrase that means “to absurdity” and refers to situations, claims, or endless arguments that seem to lead nowhere, illogical, ridiculous, absurd. In Filipino, absurd translates as walang katuturan, walang katinuan, kahunghangan, sablay. In Gen Z speak, someone volunteered ka-weirdohan.
What happened in the Senate last week and in recent days was an unraveling or meltdown of sorts, that could be likened to the so-called theater of the absurd, the unfolding of a story that evokes feelings of futility, purposelessness, pointlessness. It could be dark and gloomy but could have elements of a tragicomedy. Bring in characters in various states of ennui and discombobulation. It takes a great playwright and great actors to pull it off, as in the case of Samuel Beckett’s famous “Waiting for Godot.”
At the center of the recent Senate melee, fracas, drama—call it what you will—was Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a fugitive escaping the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) warrant of arrest served only last Monday, May 11, by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)–but, alas, for naught. Dela Rosa must have learned that it had been there since November last year, hence his absence without official leave from Senate duties for more than six months, with pay but no work.
His accusers, who have charged him with crimes against humanity—like they did with his former boss, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been detained since March last year at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague and about to face trial—have been waiting for him to face the music. As former chief of the Philippine National Police, he was Duterte’s chief enforcer of the war on drugs and extrajudicial killings. Waiting for Dela Rosa was his accusers’ lot. But unlike Godot, who never appears, Dela Rosa, lo and behold, appeared last Monday in the Senate premises, only to be chased by NBI agents with the arrest warrant. A tragicomic, if not hilarious, chase scene ensued. Reaching the Senate chamber, he invoked protective custody from his peers. I enjoyed writing about the “Tom and Jerry”-like chase last week (see “Bato’s escape run an ignominy” 5/15/26). He seemed safe, but for how long?
On Wednesday, May 20, the Supreme Court denied his appeal for a temporary restraining order against the ICC arrest warrant.
Very telling was GMA 7 Jessica Soho’s interview with Dela Rosa in the aftermath of the chase. Yes, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano called him to join the senators who would form the new majority. For “a change of leadership” (Dela Rosa’s words) that would oust Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and make Cayetano the new Senate president. Bato’s vote was the 13th, enough to oust Sotto. With the two who had abstained joining the minority, 13-9-2 is now 13-11.
In the meantime, the four articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte from the House of Representatives have arrived in the Senate and have been received. The drum rolls that should have accompanied the articles of impeachment and the voluminous pieces of evidence were drowned out by the Dela Rosa presence and, later, by his “escape” in the wee hours of the morning of Thursday, May 14.
Dela Rosa is on the run again after what looked like a bungled diversionary tactic—automatic gunfire that rang out—that distracted and frightened everyone who was not in the know, the intrepid journos among them. CCTV footage showed Dela Rosa slipping out, accompanied by Sen. Robinhood Padilla, and zooming off into the darkness. The pair has since been tagged as “Bato and Robin,” a pun unflattering to comic book heroes Batman and Robin.
No amount of fist-pounding from Cayetano and snarling at the media could make his “the Senate was under attack!” easy to believe. And despite tearless hyperventilating by his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, who described what it was like when those suspicious gunshots rang out.
Who fired the first shot? And at whom? Who fired the rest of the shots, and at whom? And why? Only the walls and ceiling took direct hits. After initial investigation and study of CCTV footage, the PNP declared that “the Senate was not under attack.” At all. On May 13, there were no NBI agents in the Senate premises to serve the arrest warrant for Dela Rosa. What happened looked like a script gone awry. In onomatopoeic Filipino, nagkawindang-windang.
For many of us who watched the fracas live, thanks to the media networks at the scene, the days that followed were days to ruminate and reflect. What was it all about? With the new Senate leadership and committee chairmanships, what happens to the investigations on corruption that had been ably chaired by members of the former majority (now the new minority)?
And the most awaited: the impeachment trial of VP Duterte. The senator-judges have made their oaths, the sheen of their crimson velvet robes reflecting on their countenance, lending a glow of respectability, integrity, and equanimity. How long will this last? Can the new majority, perceived to be Duterte allies, handle the truth?
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