With Bato dela Rosa absent, does 'no work, no pay' rule apply to senators?

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December 2, 2025 | 7:05am

MANILA, Philippines — Is the absent Sen. Bato dela Rosa still being paid?

Dela Rosa has been skipping Senate sessions since November 11, shortly after reports from Ombudsman Boying Remulla surfaced of an alleged arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He also failed to defend the Department of National Defense’s (DND) budget during plenary debates as the finance committee's vice chair, offering no formal explanation, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. 

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III himself was disappointed in Dela Rosa's latest actions, telling reporters that "it's not okay" for the senator to ask for an assignment he could not see through. 

In a radio interview on Monday, December 1, Gatchalian was asked whether a "no work, no pay" policy applies to Dela Rosa, who has been absent for over two weeks. To his knowledge, such a policy is not being practiced among senators. 

"Sa alam ko sa senators walang ganyan eh na 'no work, no pay.' Sa pagkaalam ko ah, walang ganyan na application, kaya dapat nga magpadala ng excuse letter kung bakit 'di ka makakapasok, kung ano ang nagiging problema para matignan kung ano ang estado mo," he told dZMM Teleradyo. 

(To my knowledge, there is no ‘no work, no pay’ policy for senators. As far as I know, such a rule doesn’t apply, which is why you should submit an excuse letter explaining why you cannot attend and what the issue is, so your situation can be assessed.)

Gatchalian, who heads the Senate finance committee, said Dela Rosa did not submit any formal excuse for missing the budget defense for DND and its attached agencies. Instead, he received a text from the senator’s staff requesting him to cover the agencies assigned to Dela Rosa.

"Actually, sa Committee on Finance, walang official na sulat na ipinadala si Senator Bato. Natanggap ko lang ang mensahe ng kanyang staff na hindi siya makakadalo kaya kung pwedeng ako nalang ang magdefend ng budget," he said. 

(Actually, in the Committee on Finance, Senator Bato did not send any official letter. I only received a message from his staff saying he could not attend and asking if I could defend the budget in his place.)

Procedure not followed

While careful not to call Dela Rosa's behavior as improper, Gatchalian stressed that the correct procedure is to submit a formal excuse letter stating the reasons for one’s absence, ensuring proper communication. 

He also recalled that, in his experience, no vice chair tasked with defending an agency’s budget has missed the session without a formal excuse. The Senate agreed that vice chairs should appear on the floor to show the public any proposed amendments to the committee’s national budget, he added.   

How much they earn. Senators earn a monthly salary equivalent to Salary Grade 31, totaling at least P293,191, according to the Department of Budget and Management. Annually, this amounts to roughly P3.52 million. This does not include other allowances such as for committee responsibilities.

Based on Gatchalian’s account, this suggests that Dela Rosa may have still received a full month’s pay despite being absent for half the month without submitting an excuse.

While the ICC has not confirmed the issuance of an arrest warrant for the senator, it is widely known that the former police chief played a key role in implementing former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, which has been linked to thousands of reported extrajudicial killings.