Senator Bato dela Rosa has not attended Senate sessions since November 11. This was after the release of the Ombudsman's report on the alleged arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, he also did not defend the budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) as vice chair of the finance committee. There was also no formal explanation from Dela Rosa, which worried Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Gatchalian was asked if there is a “no work, no pay” policy for senators. He said, there is no such policy. The senator should send an excuse letter so that the reason for his absence can be assessed.
In Gatchalian's experience, he has never seen a vice chair not attend a budget session without a formal letter. Instead, he only received a text from Dela Rosa's staff, requesting that he alone defend the DND budget.
Senators earn about P293,191 per month or P3.52 million per year, excluding other allowances. Based on Gatchalian's story, it is possible that Dela Rosa still received full salary even though he was absent for more than two weeks.
