Senators rib Bato after Guanzon hints of politician allegedly influencing Comelec case

Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa found himself the subject of teasing remarks by some of his colleagues at the Senate after Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon hinted about a lawmaker allegedly trying to influence a pending case.

The case involved the disqualification petition against the candidacy of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., which is under the division of Guanzon and fellow Commissioner Aimee Ferolino.

Guanzon had said the lawmaker was influencing Ferolino to delay the resolution of the case.

During the Senate’s Wednesday session, Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri about the topic that he was discussing with other senators at the back of the plenary.

Zubiri then mentioned the statement of one of the “distinguished members of the Commission on Elections” about a certain senator from Davao who allegedly tried to intervene on the disqualification cases against Marcos.

“In one interview, a distinguished member of the Commission on Elections mentioned that there was a senator from Davao. I approached the two senators from Davao. Which one of them? Because we only have two senators from Davao. Of course they did not answer [in] the affirmative. They both laughed at my inquiry,” Zubiri said.

Guanzon earlier linked an unnamed senator to the delay in the resolution of the petitions against Marcos.

On Tuesday, Guanzon dropped more hints about the senator, saying he is married, from Davao and had voted for Ferolino’s confirmation at the Commission on Appointments.

The outgoing poll official had said Ferolino and the senator were “very close ever since they were both in Davao" and she "will not name him anymore because his wife already knows. It’s already viral.”

“It’s enough for me that his wife already knows and that’s going to be a war in his household,” she added.

Dela Rosa and Senator Bong Go are the only senators who hailed from Davao. They both sit at the Commission on Appointments.

The senators, including Sotto, laughed at Dela Rosa after Zubiri answered the Senate president’s query.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon then asked if Dela Rosa is present and if he was already at the session hall.

Sotto responded to Drilon, saying Dela Rosa attended the Commission on Appointments hearing on Wednesday morning.

“So his face was not exactly parang nabugbog siya (like he was punched)? Totoo ba ‘yon (is that true)?” Drilon asked.

Zubiri said in jest: “Tinanong ko rin, Mr. president. Hindi raw totoo na nabugbog siya.” (I asked him about that also but he said it is not true.)

Dela Rosa was seen laughing at Zubiri while Go was seen sitting at his desk at the back of the plenary hall.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Guanzon said she already told Sotto about the senator who tried to intervene in the Marcos cases pending before the Comelec.

Sotto, however, has not responded yet to media queries when asked if he had already validated Guanzon’s information and if the Senate will launch a probe on the issue.—LDF, GMA News