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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Gatchalian: 'No work, no pay' not applicable to senators

Gatchalian: 'No work, no pay' not applicable to senators

Published Dec 1, 2025 02:01 pm
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday, Dec. 1, said the Senate does not observe a “no work, no pay” policy for its members, noting that the Upper Chamber’s existing practice only requires senators to formally notify the body when they are unable to attend sessions or budget hearings.
Senator Ronald
Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa (Senate PRIB photo)
Asked about Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa — who has been absent from plenary sessions since Nov. 11 without a publicly announced reason — Gatchalian said senators are expected to send a formal letter explaining their absence both to the concerned committee and to the Senate President.
“Sa pagkaalam ko, walang ganyan na setup sa mga senators (Based on what I know, there’s no such setup for senators),” Gatchalian said when asked if lawmakers face pay deductions similar to ordinary workers.
“Ang proper procedure is to send the committee a letter kung bakit ka hindi makaka-attend… Importante itong mga formal letters kasi this will be the official reason kung bakit hindi nakapunta yung senador ((The proper procedure is to send the committee a letter explaining why you can’t attend…These formal letters are important because they will serve as the official reason why the senator was unable to be present),” he added.
Gatchalian said that in the case of Dela Rosa’s absence during the defense of the Department of National Defense’s (DND) budget, he was informed only by the staff that the senator could not attend and was asked to take over. Dela Rosa is the vice chair defending the agency.
He added that the Senate may need to discuss possible contingency measures for situations where key members responsible for defending certain budgets are absent without prior notice.
“Siguro maganda mapag-usapan ito in a caucus kung ano ba yung mga contingency…So mas maganda pag-usapan yan sa caucus because I don't believe na may ganitong issue na nangyari in the past (Maybe it would be good to discuss this in a caucus to determine what the contingencies should be…It’s better to talk about that in a caucus because I don’t believe an issue like this has happened in the past),” Gatchalian said.
The senator had to sit down to defend the budgets of the DND as well as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) due to Dela Rosa's absence.
For now, however, Gatchalian stressed that the Senate has no existing rules addressing prolonged or unnotified absences by its members.
Gatchalian clarified that the situation differs for Senate employees, particularly daily wage earners, who follow standard no-work-no-pay arrangements.
“Tama yun…sa mga daily wage earners, no work, no pay talaga yung kanilang arrangement (That’s true… for daily wage earners, their arrangement really is no work, no pay),” he said.

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Bato Dela Rosa Sherwin Gatchalian Senate of the Philippines 2026 budget
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