4 months ago
55
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
January 27, 2026 | 6:09pm
Senate Finance Subcommittee E Chair Bato Dela Rosa leads the hearing on the approved P295.18 billion 2026 Department of National Defense budget, focusing on Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization reform.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — The pay of Sen. Bato Dela Rosa may be withheld following his prolonged absence, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson on Tuesday, January 27.
In an ambush interview, Lacson said that he and Senate President Tito Sotto are discussing what to do with Dela Rosa, who has not appeared at the Senate since November.
“Baka i-suspend o tigil 'yung sweldo,” Dela Rosa said. (His salary may be suspended or stopped.)
A senator makes around P290,000 to P330,000 a month, plus allowances.
However, Lacson emphasized that this must be studied first, as there are still rules covered by the Civil Service Law.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that he intended to file an ethics complaint against Dela Rosa over his prolonged absence.
Lacson said that the former senator had already met with him and Sotto earlier in the day.
Trillanes indicated to Lacson that he is planning to file the ethics complaint by March.
The proceedings from the ethics hearing may be used as a basis to amend the Senate rules.
Lacson clarified, however, that he will not be part of any recommendations to sanction Dela Rosa.
"I will not be part of any recommendation to sanction him if it comes to that in relation to his long absence for one simple reason: I have no moral authority as I was in almost the same situation more than 15 years ago," Lacson said.
In 2015, Lacson evaded arrest in relation to the killing of Salvador Dacer and Emmanuel Corbito, famously known as the Dacer–Corbito double murder case.
Lacson was implicated but fled to Hong Kong, becoming a fugitive for several months.
Meanwhile, Dela Rosa reportedly has an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, in relation to the bloody war on drugs that saw the deaths of thousands of Filipinos.
