Incoming senator Dela Rosa seeks lawmaking seminars

MANILA, Philippines – With more than 18 million votes, first-time senatorial candidate Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is poised to land a Senate seat.

But the former Philippine National Police chief admitted that he doesn’t know what his new position entails, adding that he would seek out seminars on lawmaking and ask advice from other senators.

“Ewan ko kung meron bang seminar d’yan, or ano bang training d’yan para matutuhan ko kung paano gawin ‘yung batas, kung paano gawin ‘yung trabaho sa Senado. Kung merong gano’n I’ll take that opportunity para matuto ako,” he said in an interview on CNN Philippines Tuesday, May 14.

(I don’t know if there’s a seminar or training on how to make laws, how to do that job in the Senate. If there is, I’ll take that opportunity so I could learn.)

But he added that he would not take seminars at the University of the Philippines because it was “anti-military” and “anti-police.”

Instead, the first-time senator said he would seek out reelectionist Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Joseph Victor Ejercito for their advice on what a lawmaker does.

Based on partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections as of 11:48 pm Tuesday, Dela Rosa has garnered 18,333,367 votes, currently ranking fifth in the top 12 winning circle.

Dela Rosa has openly spoken about his lack of legislative experience before.

In a campaign speech in February, he said that his experience as an enforcer of the law will make up for his lack of knowledge in lawmaking. He has also said that his legislative work would focus on peace, order, and security. – Rappler.com