Sen. Bato remains absent, will not defend DND budget—Gatchalian

With the continuous absence of Senator Bato Dela Rosa from the Senate during the deliberation of the 2026 National Budget, Finance Committee chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, said he will take over to sponsor and defend the budget of the Department of Defense and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

“Senator Dela Rosa, through his staff, said he will not be able to defend the DND and PDEA budget, so I will take over. I can do that as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. As for the reason for his absence, Senator Bato did not state any reason,” he said in an ambush interview.

Further, Gatchalian said Senator Dela Rosa will not be sanctioned or suffer any penalty for being absent and not defending the budget of the agencies tasked to him.

“In the case of the Finance Committee, it’s the chairman who really takes care of the budget, and vice chairmen are only being delegated. In this case, if Senator Dela Rosa cannot attend, then I will sit in. Wala namang penalty kung hindi pupunta,” he said.

Gatchalian said he has no idea about the status of the arrest warrant because he is concerned about the approval of the more than P6 Trillion proposed national budget at the Senate.

He maintained that when the warrant is served at the time that Senator Dela Rosa is at the confines of the Senate, they will not allow it.

“Hindi pwede gawin ang pag-aresto sa Senado. They have to respect the institution. That’s my stance. The Senate always upholds its policy na hindi pwedeng gawin ang pag-aresto. In the past, no arrest happened here,” said Gatchalian.

In a television interview on Wednesday, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed that the digital copy of the Arrest Warrant of Senator Bato from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was already signed electronically.

“From what I know, a digital copy was signed, was shown to the Ombudsman, but it was not a verified digital copy,” said Remulla.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier this month said that the ICC already issued a warrant to arrest Dela Rosa in connection with the drug war of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, being the former Philippine National Police chief during Duterte’s presidency.

Bicameral conference

Meanwhile, Gatchalian said the Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed to give at least two weeks to deliberate on the 2026 National Budget, scheduled at the end of the second week of December.

“The bicam would last five days. Kung tatanggapin naman ng Congress ang Senate version, then may mapapadali sya, depende sa disagreement ng mga lawmakers. Pag-uusapan pa rin namin but nagsisimula na ang coordination, ground rules, and timetable. We already identified a venue, which is a government facility in Intramuros, Manila,” he said.