Imee defends Bato amid prolonged absence

February 27, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —   Sen. Imee Marcos has defended her colleague in the minority, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, despite his three-month-long absence amid reports that he faces arrest.

Marcos said Dela Rosa had no choice but to go into hiding because the Senate leadership has not assured him of protection from arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where he faces a case of crimes against humanity with former president Rodrigo Duterte.

While senators are privileged from arrest while they are in session according to the 1987 Constitution, they can only seek sanctuary in the chamber if the offense is punishable by not more than six years.

Murder as a crime against humanity carries a much heavier penalty in 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 at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Dela Rosa went absent without leave since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed he had seen an arrest warrant against Dela Rosa for his role as Duterte’s co-perpetrator in the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs.

Another senator identified by the ICC prosecutor as Duterte’s “co-perpetrator” is Sen. Bong Go, who as of Wednesday still attended sessions, as he vowed to continue his work despite the possibility of arrest.

Senate to discuss ethics complaint vs Bato

The Senate ethics committee will convene its second meeting on March 4 to tackle the six pending ethics complaints against senators, the latest of which was a complaint for dereliction of duty against the absent Dela Rosa.

Sen. JV Ejercito, chair of the committee, yesterday said Senate President Vicente Sotto III offered his office conference room for the panel because all Senate committee rooms are fully booked.

Dela Rosa is accused of “dereliction of duty” and “grave abuse of the privilege entrusted to him by the Filipino people” by the group Wag Kang KuCorrupt for being absent from the Senate since Nov. 11 last year.

Sotto earlier said that the Senate ethics committee could look into a proposed “no work, no pay” policy for absentee senators.

Bato praying

Did Dela Rosa really go to church to find solace amid a looming ICC arrest warrant?

Dela Rosa’s wife Nancy posted on her Facebook account a photo of the senator praying in an undisclosed church.

Dela Rosa’s photo kneeling before a lighted altar generated comments sympathizing with the absentee senator. It was captioned: “When all else fails, I know You alone will never fail us.”

The post, however, could have been an old photo of the senator.

A reverse image search of the church showed that the altar in front of Dela Rosa was that of the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Madridejos, Bantayan Island, Cebu.

Based on posts in the senator’s Facebook page, Dela Rosa last visited Bantayan Island in January last year for its fiesta.

In a Jan. 16, 2025 Facebook post containing photos of his visit there, Dela Rosa was wearing the same Under Armour blue polo shirt in the photo of him praying as posted by his wife on Wednesday.

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