LACSON WON’T BE PART OF RECOMMENDATION TO SANCTION DELA ROSA

SENATE President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson will not be part of any possible recommendation to sanction Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa over his absence from the Senate, if it comes to that.

Lacson said Tuesday that he has no moral authority on the matter because he faced a similar situation where he was forccd to go into hiding in the 2010s.

“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.

On Tuesday, Lacson discussed with Senate President Vicente Sotto III possible options on the case of dela Rosa, who has been absent from Senate sessions since November 2025.

Lacson was forced into hiding from 2010 to 2011 as a “fugitive from injustice,” refusing to “suffer for a crime I did not commit.”

No less than the Supreme Court eventually cleared Lacson of the supposed charges.

Dela Rosa has been in hiding since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against him as an accused in the case stemming from the last administration’s war on drugs.