Ethics case vs dela Rosa hinges on Senate rule changes

THE Senate must amend its rules before it can tackle the ethics complaint against Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa, a senator said on Wednesday.

Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, who heads the Ethics committee, said that it must amend the Senate’s rules to include a “no work, no pay” policy before it can tackle the ethics complaint against Mr. dela Rosa.

“It is really necessary, if we continue with this (then) the case will be dismissed. It’s not in our rules, so it will be dismissed because you cannot find it anywhere in our rules on ethics or the rules of the Senate,” he told a news briefing in mixed Filipino and English.

Mr. Ejercito added that legislators must push for the amendment of Senate rules to avoid the dismissal of the complaint.

“If any member would propose that the rules be amended or proposed the inclusion of such provision for no work, no pay, then we can make the necessary amendment,” he said.

Mr. Ejercito added that the committee had approved its rules and will begin to assess if cases filed against senators are sufficient.

He said that Mr. dela Rosa’s complaint is sixth in line, with the committee following a “first in, first out,” for filed ethics cases.

An ethics complaint has been filed against Mr. dela Rosa over his repeated absence and failure to return to his duties in the Senate, constituting a clear dereliction of duty and a “grave abuse of the privilege entrusted to him by the Filipino people.”

The civil society group that filed the complaint stated that the senator’s absence from committee hearings risks disrupting proceedings and pending legislative measures.

The senator has not attended a single Senate session since November last year, amid talks of a potential warrant against him by the International Criminal Court. — Adrian H. Halili