Padilla ‘smartshames’ critics on ‘force majeure’

MANILA, Philippines — Action star turned senator Robinhood Padilla took to Facebook to defend himself from the “geniuses” who lambasted him for his definition of “force majeure” and opposed allowing his ally, senator turned fugitive Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, to virtually attend sessions while in hiding.

“Iba talaga ang pangangatwiran ng ‘genius.’ Highest level ng pagkapilosopo,” Padilla said on his Facebook quote card yesterday.

“Sa kalye mo na lang itanong kung si Senator Bato ay ayaw ba magtrabaho o hindi pinapayagan makapagtrabaho? Asagotin ka ng may warrant (sic),” he added.

Padilla is pushing the argument that Dela Rosa is already allowed under Senate rules to attend sessions through “teleconference, video conference or other reliable forms of remote or electronic means” because the condition is if there is “force majeure or the occurrence of a national emergency.”

He also claimed the El Niño phenomenon, the Middle East conflict and territorial disputes already fall under “force majeure.”

However, Padilla failed to properly cite the rules, which state that senators will only be allowed virtual attendance and voting if these unanticipated scenarios prevent them from physically going to session.

Citing the “teleconference” provision under Section 41, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the rules also state that allowing senators virtual attendance should be determined by the majority of all the members of the Senate.

“Even when there’s El Niño, it’s still OK for us to go to work. Even when there’s a war in Iran, it’s so far away, we can still go to work. Just because there’s something happening all over the world, we’ll teleconference all of a sudden?” he told radio dzMM.