Bato still no-show as Senate resumes session after holidays

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa remained absent from the Senate on Monday as the chamber resumed its plenary session following a month-long legislative break during the holidays.

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he had yet to receive any word from dela Rosa as of Monday.

“Wala pa. I have not heard any information from Senator Bato,” Sotto said in an ambush interview.

“I was even wondering how he was able to sign the minority opinion. I think that’s how we should describe it—a minority opinion. It’s not a report, because a report has to come from the main committee itself,” he added.

Sotto was referring to the so-called minority report released last week by Senators Imee Marcos and Rodante Marcoleta.

The document, signed by six of the nine members of the minority bloc—including dela Rosa—outlined findings and observations based on the first six hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

Dela Rosa has not attended any Senate session since November 11.

His absence followed allegations by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued a warrant of arrest against him in connection with the deadly war on drugs during the Duterte administration, when he served as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Last Wednesday, as he marked his 64th birthday, dela Rosa broke his silence, saying he was “waiting for a true seeking for justice to emerge and take over.”

“If there are indeed cases against me, I will wait for a time and certainty when I can face these cases as a Filipino, before Filipinos. If I were to allow myself to be arrested and tried by foreign people and courts, it would be as if I disregarded the struggle of our heroes and soldiers for our independence,” the senator said.—MCG, GMA Integrated News