Legal experts have expressed diverging views on whether Senator Bato de la Rosa should be allowed to virtually participate in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial amid continued evasion of the International Criminal Court warrant. 

Lawyer Rico Domingo, former president of the Philippine Bar Association, said De la Rosa can still take part in the impeachment proceedings, including the voting, “as long as he is not yet removed as a senator.”

However, he noted that under the Senate rules, virtual participation in any legislative proceedings is “not allowed.”

Rule 14, Section 41(b) of the Senate Rules allows the use of video conference or other remote means only during a “national emergency as determined by the majority of all the members of the Senate, which may prevent the convening of the Senate or the physical presence of its members in the session hall.”

On the contrary, former Supreme Court associate justice Adolfo Azcuna believed that since De la Rosa is mandated to participate in the impeachment trial, “he can do that electronically.”
 

Azcuna added that this may also apply to voting, “as long as the person is within the jurisdiction of the Senate, [and] it cannot be outside of the Philippines.”

However, he pointed out that the decision allowing virtual voting is still subject to the approval of the entire Senate. 

“They have their own rules of procedure. But what is required, for me, [is that] he has to take his oath as a member of the tribunal,” Azcuna told ANC. 

All senators, except De la Rosa, took their oath as judges for the impeachment trial just shortly after the Senate convened as an impeachment court on Monday. 

According to Azcuna, De la Rosa could still take his oath “before a notary public.”

“It is possible, I think, for him to participate and thus his vote as long as it is not restrained by any restraining order from the Supreme Court,” he concluded. 

Last week, De la Rosa’s ally, Senator Rodante Marcoleta, proposed to relax the said provision in the Senate rules by adding “justifiable reasons” as grounds to allow a senator to attend and participate in the session remotely. 

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, however, vowed to oppose it, asserting that senators must be required to physically present on the floor, especially if the matter concerns a national issue. 

De la Rosa, subject of an ICC warrant, made a surprise return to the Senate last Monday, 11 May, after six months of being absent. His attendance gave Senator Alan Cayetano enough votes to snatch the Senate presidency from Senator Tito Sotto. 

Two days after the leadership revamp, De la Rosa “escaped” the Senate, where has was temporarily housed to protect him to ICC warrant while he exhaust all legal remedies in the Philippines.