Bato a no-show anew at budget bicam hearing

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa skipped the second day of the bicameral conference committee hearing on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

The senator was also a no-show during the first day of the deliberations that was livestreamed online for the first time. This was despite the hope by Senate Finance Committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian that the senator would be present in the hearings. 

He was designated as one of the contingents due to his vice-chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee.

Since early November, Dela Rosa has stayed out of the public eye after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued an arrest warrant for him concerning the Duterte administration's "war on drugs."

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that Dela Rosa has been transferring to different places using different vehicles with the help of some friends. In the last three weeks, the senator was spotted in six locations.

Meanwhile, the senator’s lawyer Israelito Torreon said that his client is avoiding public appearance because “his personal safety is at stake” amid the reported arrest warrant against him from the ICC. 

GMA News Online reached out to Torreon regarding Dela Rosa’s attendance to the bicameral conference committee hearings. 

Aside from Gatchalian, the other senators present in the hearing are Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, and Imee Marcos. — BM, GMA Integrated News