THE Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges has dismissed for being "frivolous" four of the nine complaints filed against senators, panel chairman Sen. JV Ejercito said.
The committee on Monday resumed deliberations on the ethics complaint filed against Sens. Ronald dela Rosa, Francis Escudero, Risa Hontiveros, and Ejercito. Some of them face more than one complaint.
In a chance interview, Ejercito said that the panel deferred action on three of the cases “for further study," including the one filed against dela Rosa for absenteeism.
The panel also took up a proposal to recommend to the Senate Committee on Rules the inclusion of guidelines on absenteeism such as a “No Work, No Pay” policy.
Since the complaint filed against dela Rosa concerns his prolonged absence, the members agreed to seek his comments through a letter.
Ejercito said two cases "need response from government agencies to assist the committee in disposing of the complaints." The complaint against Ejercito was among those dismissed.
"I inhibited for a while and stepped out of the room," he said.
It was Sen. Francis Pangilinan, ethics committee vice chairman, who tackled Ejercito's case.
Ejercito declined to indicate whose cases were dismissed and deferred.
He said the committee agreed to keep all proceedings and details of the dockets, or complaints, "confidential."
"Most are not compliant with form and substance. But again, we will return [the dismissed cases] to the complainants, and they have the option to refile and this time according to form and substance," he said.
"If we will really follow the rules of legal process, if it's not according to form and substance, automatic dismissed," he added.
A civil society group led by former finance undersecretary Cielo Magno filed a complaint against dela Rosa for his continued absence for more than three months.
Ejercito faced an ethics complaint for his alleged failure to act immediately on the case filed against Escudero, who had been accused of accepting campaign fund from a contractor.
Hontiveros was accused of "witness tampering" in relation to her investigation on the alleged sexual and labor abuses of some members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ led by its founder Apollo Quiboloy.
