Senator Robin Padilla pushes online voting for Senator Bato Dela Rosa.
Senator Robin Padilla continues to encourage his colleagues to allow online voting so that Senator Bato Dela Rosa can keep casting votes while in hiding.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed the arrest warrant against Senator Bato Dela Rosa previously. It was originally issued in November 2025. He was considered a significant figure behind the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said that the senator is now a fugitive. PNP chief PGen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. stressed that any police action involving Dela Rosa would be carried out in accordance with the law. There will accordingly be no special treatment despite his past position in the national police force.
Amid Dela Rosa’s hiding, prompting him to continue his prolonged absence from the Senate, Senator Robin Padilla pushes for rule changes to allow online voting. This will enable the fugitive senator to keep casting votes while in hiding from the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant.
According to Padilla, Dela Rosa wants to fulfill his mandate as senator but cannot appear in person without risking arrest.
“Iniluklok siya ng taongbayan na maging senador, hayaan natin siyang magtrabaho para sa taongbayan sa pamamagitan ng online,” he wrote, and added that Dela Rosa does not want to miss Senate sessions, but fears being “put on a plane, taken to a foreign country, and jailed.”
“Gamitin ang technology para magampanan niya ito,” Padilla furthered.
He made the appeal after the Senate majority pushed for a controversial rule change on May 26, causing the minority bloc to walk out. Senator Rodante Marcoleta proposed allowing senators to attend and vote in sessions for “justifiable reasons.”
However, the minority believes the move is connected to Dela Rosa, who has not been seen publicly since leaving the Senate on May 14, and whose vote the majority wants to keep.
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