Bato physically attends session at Senate after ‘Sarap ng buhay’ remark drew flak

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa physically attended the plenary session of the Senate on Monday after his "Sarap ng buhay" remark drew criticism among netizens last week.

"Senator Dela Rosa is present. Senator Lacson are you going to allow him to have meryenda for your birthday?" Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in jest as the session opened.

Dela Rosa will be sponsoring Senate Bill No. 1562 which seeks to increase the recruitment quota of female officers in the Philippine National Police and Senate Bill No. 1563 amending the minimum height requirement for applicants of the PNP, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Bureau of Correction.

Last Tuesday, Dela Rosa blurted out those words when the hybrid plenary session was suspended relatively early.

"Sarap ng buhay! Sarap ng buhay! Ganito na lang tayo palagi ha?" Dela Rosa said in jest after Sotto officially suspended the session which ran for less than two hours.

Some netizens took his remark as insensitive as many unprivileged Filipinos are grappling with various employment challenges amid the pandemic.

Dela Rosa, for his part, explained that he just finds it more efficient to hold hybrid Senate proceedings.

"Kaya nasabi kong ang sarap nang buhay kasi mas mabilis ang talakayan ng bills kapag naka-Webex kami at mas maaga matapos ang session. Sa tingin ko mas efficient ang session via Webex basta maganda lang ang wifi signal ng attendees," he said.

The following day, Sotto joked that Dela Rosa should be present at the session on hall on Monday.

"There is a directive that's being ordered by Senators (Panfilo) Lacson, (Francis) Tolentino, (Sherwin) Gatchalian, and myself. We are hereby directing Senator Bato dela Rosa to attend the session on Monday physically because he is becoming very popular in social media," Sotto said when the plenary session resumed.

"So that you can enjoy the birthday meryenda of Senator Ping Lacson on Monday," he added.

The Senate rules were amended in May to allow both physical and online participation of its members in a bid to prevent COVID-19 transmission in the chamber. — RSJ, GMA News