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| New majority of 12 senators elect Sherwyn Gatchalian as acting Senate President |
Another standoff is looming at the Philippine Senate on Thursday, June 4, after the previous minority bloc convened the 20th session by gathering what it claimed was a majority of 12 senators, and agreed to declare all positions vacant and proceeded to vote in new leaders.
Elected as Acting Senate President and Speaker Pro Tempore
was Sherwyn Gatchalian, who presided over the session in the absence of 11 other
senators who had boycotted two earlier sessions in protest at the arrest for
plunder and subsequent detention of their ally, Senator Jinggoy Estrada.
After the heads of the various Senate committees were
elected, along with a new secretary and sergeant-at-arms, the senators
adjourned the session sine die, or at a future date to be determined.
The crucial 12th vote came from Senator
Chiz Escudero, who moved over from the other side, but denied it was not a
political move, but an attempt to restore credibility to the Senate.
The new majority maintained that while the
Constitution requires 13 votes for the election of a new Senate President, only
a simple majority of the senators capable of casting their votes is needed to convene
a session to kick out the Senate President.
As of now, only 22 of the 24 elected senators are
able to physically attend sessions. One of the 24, Senator Ronald dela Rosa, is
on the run after being issued with an arrest warrant by the International
Criminal Court, while Senator Estrada was slapped with a non-bailable charge of
plunder on June 1.
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| Cayetano says on Facebook that he is still the 'legal, legitimate and moral' Senate president |
The change in leadership was immediately condemned as illegal and unconstitutional by ousted Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who announced via Facebook live that the investigation by the Blue Ribbon Committee into the graft-riddled flood control projects will start Thursday.
In line with this, his sister and committee chair
Pia Cayetano issued a public notice to a number of resource persons to attend
the scheduled hearing.
But Alan Peter himself said his group may be barred
from entering the Senate to start the inquiry, and thus called on the public to
come out in force to support them.
Senator Erwin Tulfo who acts as the Senate
spokesperson, said the new leadership has already rescinded Alan Peter’s order
for the Blue Ribbon Committee meeting tomorrow. Instead, the committee hearing
will start on Monday.
To ensure no Senate employee is caught in the
crossfire between the two opposing factions, Acting Senate President Gatchalian
issued an order making Thursday a work-from-home day.
The move, along with the replacement of the Senate
secretary and sergeant-at-arms, effectively deprives Cayetano and sub-committee
chairman Rodante Marcoleta of the chance to use Senate facilities and resources
to conduct their own public hearing on the flood control mess.
Earlier, the new Senate majority called for the
upper chamber to “get back to work” after the opposing bloc boycotted the two constitutionally-mandated
sessions on June 1 and 2.
The new ruling group stressed that the Senate must
continue fulfilling its constitutional duties despite the ongoing political
turmoil.
The bloc cited legal and historical precedents in
declaring that the presence of 12 members constituted a quorum, and praised Senator
Escudero for filling the remaining slot that was needed for the Senate to
proceed with the session.
