The Marcos administration on Thursday turned Vice President Sara Duterte’s own argument back on her, suggesting she personally pressure Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa into showing up for Senate work — a pointed reply to her insistence that every member of the chamber, including those absent, be folded into talks on the Senate’s agenda.
Dela Rosa has not surfaced publicly and remains the target of a manhunt, with an active International Criminal Court warrant hanging over him in connection with an alleged crimes-against-humanity case.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro framed the matter as a test of the vice president’s sincerity. “Kung yun po ang nais niya na makabalik sa Senado si Sen. Bato, welcome po ‘yun. Mas maganda kung kanyang i-encourage, pipilitin, kamukha nung ginawa ni Sen. Cayetano,” she told reporters at a briefing on June 11.
The exchange traces back to Duterte’s June 10 appeal for the Senate to hammer out its institutional priorities collectively. She argued the chamber functions as one body rather than rival camps. “Dahil sila ay hindi dalawang grupo kun’di isang institusyon ay dapat na pag-usapan ng 24, kasama ‘yung mga nakulong, kasama ‘yung nagtatago kung ano ba dapat ang prayoridad ng kanilang institusyon at ano ‘yung kanilang trabaho na naaayon sa ating Saligang Batas,” she said.
Castro dismissed that proposition as detached from reality, pointing out that two senators are in no position to participate. Beyond Dela Rosa’s evasion of authorities, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is in detention over a P573-million plunder case tied to the flood control scandal. As she put it, a jailed senator “cannot immediately appear or attend or vote since their case is under the Court’s jurisdiction and not with the Senate.”
The Palace went further, casting the upheaval in the Senate as something engineered rather than spontaneous. Castro tied the disorder — Dela Rosa’s getaway, allegedly abetted by Sen. Robin Padilla, and a firearm-related episode on May 13 — to a coordinated effort by the vice president’s bloc. The aim, she claimed, was shielding Duterte from her pending impeachment. “Lahat ng ito, lahat sila, sila ‘yung nagsasabing dapat na ibasura ang impeachment. Ito ay lahat para sa proteksyon ng bise presidente,” Castro said.
That accusation directly countered Duterte’s characterization of the same turmoil. The vice president had cast the disarray as a verdict on the sitting president, saying “Iyong kaguluhan at kawalang direksiyon ng ating bansa ay nagsasalamin kung ano ang klase ng leadership mayroon ang nakaupo sa Palasyo.”
Castro rejected the diagnosis outright, recasting the problem as one of overreach by Duterte’s side rather than any failing at the top. “Hindi totoo na patungkol daw sa kahinaan ng liderato sa administrasyon kung hindi ito ay sa patuloy na pang-aabuso sa kapangyarihan para lamang sa kanilang mga kaalyado,” she said.
