Senator Imee Marcos has defended fellow minority lawmaker Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa amid his prolonged absence from Senate sessions and a pending ethics complaint for alleged dereliction of duty.
Marcos said Dela Rosa had no choice but to go into hiding, citing the lack of assurance from Senate leadership that he would be protected from possible arrest in connection with proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Under the 1987 Constitution, senators are privileged from arrest while Congress is in session, except for offenses punishable by more than six years of imprisonment. Crimes against humanity carry heavier penalties under international law.
“I pity Senator Bato. He is in a neighboring office. Some say it’s ‘no work, no pay.’ Is that right? It does not seem so,” Marcos said during a press briefing.
Dela Rosa has been absent without leave since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed that he had seen an arrest warrant reportedly linked to Dela Rosa’s alleged role as co-perpetrator in the previous administration’s anti-drug campaign under former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Another senator named by ICC prosecutors as a supposed co-perpetrator is Bong Go, who has continued attending sessions while saying he will carry on with his duties.
Ethics panel to meet March 4
The Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges is set to convene on March 4 to tackle six pending complaints, including the latest complaint against Dela Rosa filed by the group Wag Kang KuCorrupt for alleged “dereliction of duty” and “grave abuse of the privilege entrusted to him by the Filipino people.”
Committee chair JV Ejercito said Vicente Tito Sotto III offered his conference room for the meeting as committee rooms were fully booked.
Sotto earlier floated the possibility of reviewing a proposed “no work, no pay” policy for absentee senators.
Prayer photo circulates
Meanwhile, a photo posted by Dela Rosa’s wife Nancy showed the senator kneeling in prayer inside an undisclosed church, with the caption: “When all else fails, I know You alone will never fail us.”
A reverse image search indicated that the altar resembles that of the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Madridejos, Bantayan Island, Cebu. Based on previous social media posts, Dela Rosa visited Bantayan Island in January 2025 for its fiesta and appeared to be wearing the same blue polo shirt in both images.