Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa clarified on Tuesday, May 12, that he did not personally receive his salary and allowances during the six months he was absent from the Senate.
Dela Rosa explained that in the first few months, his secretary claimed the salary on his behalf, but he himself never collected it.
“Nahihiya na ako sa taumbayan na sumusuweldo ako kahit na hindi ko kini-claim yung sweldo ko diyan sa baba. Hindi ko kine-claim,” he said in an interview.
“My secretary was the one claiming it for me. How can I personally get it when I was not here at the Senate?” he added.
He said that in later months, even his staff stopped collecting the salary out of embarrassment. Dela Rosa added that he is willing to return the portion of the salary he did not spend, noting that part of the money was used for relief operations.
The senator stressed that there was no need for Senate leadership under then‑Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III to ask him to give up his salary and allowances.
“Kahit hindi nila ako i-encourage, may konsensya naman ako. Mahiya naman ako sa taumbayan. Sabi ko nga…gamitin niyo sa kawang-gawa, mga relief efforts natin para mapunta sa taumbayan yang pera na yan,” he said.
Earlier, Sotto and Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, then chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, had asked Dela Rosa to comment on the ethics complaint against him and the proposal to impose a “no work, no pay” policy for absentee senators. Ejercito said Dela Rosa had yet to respond.
On May 11, Dela Rosa appeared in the Senate for the first time since November 11, 2025, joining 12 other senators in voting to remove Sotto as Senate president and install Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as the new leader.
His absence had followed reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued an arrest warrant against him.
Right after his reappearance, National Bureau of Investigation operatives, accompanied by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, attempted to serve the ICC warrant.
However, Cayetano later granted a motion to place Dela Rosa under Senate protective custody and cited the NBI agents in contempt. (Hannah Torregoza)
