Cendaña claps back at Dela Rosa: Bring that ‘bravery’ to China, ICC

MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan Party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña on Saturday clapped back at Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s alleged threat to punch the former, saying that the senator should take his “bravery” to China and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This came after Dela Rosa allegedly commented under the post of INQUIRER.net on Friday on Cendaña’s reaction to Vice President Sara Duterte’s remark that losing a partner is more painful than being impeached by the House of Representatives.

Mhie, sasapakin daw ako ng isang senador?
Ang “tapang” naman ni koya. Sana ganyan din siya katapang laban sa China sa WPS at sa pagharap sa ICC. O baka naman iiyak na naman siya ng crocodile tears at kakaripas ng takbo, gaya ng pagtakbo niya noon sa hawak niyang paputok? pic.twitter.com/wSVYf6kg7W

— MaderPerci 🏳️‍🌈 (@PerciCen) February 8, 2025

In the post, Cendaña said that the impeachment is not a matter of romantic relationship, but of public accountability and liability.

READ: VP Sara Duterte: Losing a partner more painful than being impeached

Screenshots of the senator’s comment made rounds online, but the comment cannot be found under the original post as of this writing.

While Cendaña did not name Dela Rosa, the House representative said that a senator wanted to punch him.

“Mhie, sasapakin daw ako ng isang senador? Ang “tapang” naman ni koya. Sana ganyan din siya katapang laban sa China sa WPS [West Philippine Sea] at sa pagharap sa ICC,” Cendaña said in a post in X (formerly Twitter).

Screenshot of a post by Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña in X.

(A senator wants to punch me? He is “brave.” I hope he is also like that against China and in facing the ICC.)

Dela Rosa also allegedly pointed out the grimace of Cendaña and said that he would punch the latter on the other side of his face “to make it balance.”

In a separate X post, Cendaña then said: “Tabingi ang mukha” ko dahil ang “Baklang Ngiwi” na ito ay stroke survivor.” (My face is asymmetrical because this gay with a grimace is a stroke survivor.)

Dela Rosa previously said that he is already fed up with all the aggressions of China in the West Philippine Sea, but declaring a war against the country is not possible.

READ: Dela Rosa mulls war with China, but holds back: ‘Hindi naman natin kaya’

Dela Rosa was also named by the ICC as one of the five suspects behind the bloody drug war under the past administration of Duterte that claimed thousands of lives.