A civil society group’s bid to have Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa penalized for chronic absenteeism faces a steep procedural hurdle — the Senate’s own rules do not allow for the sanction being sought.
The complaint, filed by Wag Kang KuCorrupt and headed by former finance undersecretary Cielo Magno, calls for withholding Dela Rosa’s salary until he returns to work. But Senator JV Ejercito, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, said that remedy simply does not exist in the chamber’s current rulebook.
“If we proceed with this, the case will be dismissed outright because it is not in our rules. We cannot find it anywhere in our rules, [whether in the] ethics or in the Senate rules,” Ejercito told reporters Wednesday following the committee’s second closed-door session on the matter.
“If they want it to prosper, we need to amend the rules to include the no work, no pay,” he added.
Beyond the rule gap, Dela Rosa’s case is not even next in line. Ejercito said the committee operates on a first-in, first-out basis, and Dela Rosa’s complaint sits fifth or sixth in the queue. He pushed back against suggestions that the panel was deliberately stalling, insisting it follows procedure regardless of a case’s political weight.
Dela Rosa has been absent from the Senate since November last year. His disappearance followed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s disclosure that the International Criminal Court had issued a warrant for his arrest over his role as police chief during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, which left thousands dead. In February, ICC prosecutors named Dela Rosa and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go as alleged co-perpetrators in crimes against humanity tied to the crackdown.
Dela Rosa was also the signatory to Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016, issued on Duterte’s first day in office, which laid out the operational framework for “Project Double Barrel” — the anti-drug drive more widely known as Oplan Tokhang.
Senate President Tito Sotto and members of the minority bloc have said Dela Rosa has not been in contact with them, though his office has continued to operate in his absence. His prolonged non-appearance has stripped him of nearly all his committee memberships.
Wag Kang KuCorrupt accused Dela Rosa of dereliction of duty and of abusing the public trust placed in him as an elected official.
Six ethics complaints in total are now pending before the committee — including one lodged against Ejercito himself, over allegations that he neglected to act on a complaint against Senator Chiz Escudero concerning a P35-million campaign donation from a prominent government flood control contractor. Senator Risa Hontiveros is also facing a complaint filed by pro-Duterte lawyers in October, accusing her of witness tampering in connection with a Senate witness who later recanted testimony related to the compound of televangelist Apollo Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Ejercito said the committee plans to take up the backlog of cases during the congressional break.
