No work, no pay eyed for AWOL Bato

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa may see himself suspended and his salaries withheld if a proposal in the Senate to revise its rules is approved.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, in a chance interview yesterday, said the leadership met with former senator Antonio Trillanes IV about the latter’s plan to file an ethics complaint against Dela Rosa for being in hiding since the emergence of rumor that a warrant for his arrest for crimes against humanity had already been issued against him by the International Criminal Court.

The ethics committee led by Sen. JV Ejercito can tackle the complaint once filed now that it has constituted its members with the resumption of session on Monday after a long break.

The Senate rules currently are silent on the punishment for absent senators, but amendments can be made to include suspension or “no work no pay” arrangement, Lacson said.

But amending the rules can only happen after the ethics committee releases its report on the ethics complaint, he said.

Lacson acknowledged that he has no “moral ascendancy” to seek Dela Rosa’s punishment for being absent.

Lacson turned fugitive himself from 2010 to 2011 when he hid to escape prosecution for what he called the trumped up charges in the Dacer-Corbito murder case. Lacson would eventually come out of hiding and get cleared.

“I will not be part of any recommendation to sanction him if it comes to that in relation to his long absence for one simple reason ­– I have no moral authority as I was in almost the same situation more than 15 years ago,” he said. Trillanes expects to file the ethics complaint against Dela Rosa in March.