House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima has asked Senate President Tito Sotto III to refrain from comparing her situation and that of former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with the absence of Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa from Senate sessions.
In a statement posted on X, De Lima said her and Trillanes’ nonattendance at Senate sessions during their incumbency was involuntary and should not be equated with Dela Rosa’s absence, which she described as a matter of choice, possibly to avoid a potential arrest by the International Criminal Court.
“I could not be physically present in the Senate because I was in detention to face the fabricated charges filed against me then by the Duterte administration,” she said.
The issue surfaced during discussions on Dela Rosa’s repeated absence from Senate sessions, amid claims that the ICC has issued a warrant of arrest against him for his alleged role in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
De Lima said that despite being detained and lacking access to electronic devices, she continued to work and fulfill her duties as a senator, filing several bills, some of which were eventually enacted into law.
“I requested to participate in the Senate’s online sessions and hearings during the pandemic, as had always been done, but the request was denied by the Senate majority. These matters of productivity in legislative output and my constant eagerness to join plenary sessions and committee hearings despite my unjust detention are clear evidence of my work and intent to work,” she stressed.
She added that her and Trillanes’ circumstances should not be used as justification to avoid disciplining what she described as a delinquent senator.