SENATOR Ana Consuelo Madrigal yesterday asked the Senate leadership to order the arrest of Senators Manuel Villar Jr., Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano for their alleged absences during Senate sessions.

?Mr. President, I move that senators who are not attending be arrested by the sergeant-at-arms,? Madrigal asked Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile shortly before Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was to take the floor.

She invoked Section 99 of the Senate?s rules, which allows its sergeant-at-arms to arrest senators to compel them to appear at the session hall.

She later withdrew her motion but warned she would again invoke Section 99 if her colleagues continued to be absent.

Madrigal was the second senator to be exasperated by the absence of colleagues during session hours.

On Monday, Pimentel repeatedly asked Enrile to check the quorum, leading Senator Panfilo Lacson to threaten to invoke Section 99.