By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA, Philippines — Senators who are currently detained, in hiding or on extended leave have voluntarily declined to receive their salaries after missing their on-site duties, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday.
Gatchalian said the decision applies to senators who are unable to perform their regular functions at the Senate, with the lawmakers themselves opting not to receive compensation during their absence.
“Those who are detained and at large voluntarily declined,” Gatchalian said in a chance interview at the Senate.
Among them is Sen. Loren Legarda, who is currently abroad and has extended her medical leave amid a preliminary investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman into alleged involvement in ghost solar farm projects involving her and her son.
Gatchalian said Legarda had already declined her salary after filing her medical leave, prompting the Senate to instruct its accounting and payroll offices to suspend her compensation.
“It’s a very personal issue. I’m aware of her ailment. Even prior to this, we were personal friends as well and she said she has a serious medical issue,” Gatchalian said.
“After she filed her medical leave she already declined her salary. We’ve instructed the accounting department and payroll department to suspend her salary,” he added.
Gatchalian said he could not say when Legarda would return to the country or resume her duties, stressing that she should prioritize her health.
The Senate president also said salaries that are not claimed by the concerned senators may eventually be treated as savings and reallocated for other Senate expenditures.
“The Senate can declare it as savings and use it for something else,” Gatchalian said.
Aside from Legarda, senators currently absent from the Senate include Ronald dela Rosa, who remains at large, and Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, who are detained.
Dela Rosa has been in hiding following the International Criminal Court’s arrest order in connection with the crimes against humanity case stemming from former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.
Estrada, meanwhile, is serving a 90-day suspension while his plunder case is being litigated. He is accused of receiving P573 million in kickbacks from allegedly anomalous flood-control projects.
Marcoleta is also detained in connection with a plunder case involving an alleged failure to declare P75 million in campaign funds used during his 2025 senatorial bid.
Gatchalian said he continues to monitor Estrada’s condition after the senator was brought to a hospital in San Juan on Wednesday following a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The Senate president’s disclosure underscores that the absence of senators facing detention, legal proceedings or extended medical leave does not automatically translate into continued receipt of their salaries, particularly when the lawmakers themselves formally decline compensation.
ia/xf
