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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Dela Rosa to skip DND, PDEA budget sponsorship; Gatchalian to take over

Dela Rosa to skip DND, PDEA budget sponsorship; Gatchalian to take over

Published Nov 26, 2025 07:00 pm
There's still no sign of Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa even as the interpellation of the 2026 budget nears its end.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on Wednesday, Nov. 26, that Dela Rosa's staff reached out to him to say that he will not arrive to sponsor the budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Senator Ronald
Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa (Senate PRIB photo)
"Nagpa-abot yung staff niya ng message sa amin na hindi siya makakapunta bukas at i-defend yung budget ng DND at PDEA. So ako muna ang ni-request nya na mag-defend na being the chairman. So I'll sit in tomorrow to defend the budget of the DND (His staff sent us a message that he won’t be able to attend tomorrow and defend the budgets of the DND and PDEA. So he requested me, as the chairman, to defend them in the meantime)," Gatchalian said.
"In the case of the Finance Committee, it's really the chairman that is responsible for the budget. So mga vice-chairman naman dine-delegate. But in this case nga, dahil hindi siya makakadalo, so the chairman takes over. So wala naman siyang penalty kung hindi pupunta. Kasi andun rin naman ako during the budget period (Usually, tasks are delegated to the vice chairmen. But in this case, since he won’t be able to attend, the chairman takes over. There’s no penalty for him if he doesn’t come, because I was also present during the budget hearings)," he added.
He also stated that the senator gave no reason for his absence.
Since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced that the International Criminal Court (ICC) already has a warrant of arrest for Dela Rosa, he has not appeared in public.
Gatchalian said that he attended all the budget hearings, even though he was not the chairman of the sub-committee, and sat through all of them. He also noted that they had meetings, so he is already familiar with the ins and outs of the budget.
When asked if the budget sponsorship can be done online, he said: "Hindi natin pinapayagan yun. Yun ang one policy na hindi natin pinapayagan (We don’t allow that. That’s one policy we don’t permit)."

Related Tags

Bato Dela Rosa Department of National Defense (DND) Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Sherwin Gatchalian 2026 budget
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