Minority stalwart Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday night questioned the move of the Senate majority bloc to tackle and vote in plenary on a motion introduced by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta on 11 May, allowing online participation in Senate proceedings, saying it runs contrary to the chamber's rules and committee system.
"Does it mean that we are now disregarding the committees (and committee system) of the Senate?" Lacson asked as he cited Section 24 of the Rules of the Senate, where the committees "shall hold meetings to discuss, decide, and submit a report on all matters transmitted to them."
Lacson said Section 24 provides that the report must be approved by the majority of the regular and ex officio members thereof.
The lawmaker pointed out that since all posts were declared vacant in the wake of the Senate leadership change last May 11, there is no Committee on Rules that would tackle the matter, and no chairman of the Committee on Rules, as the post of Majority Leader was also declared vacant.
"How can the Committee on Rules properly function in the absence of the committee members? They were vacated. Walang (chairman at) members ang Committee on Rules (The Committee on Rules has no chairman or members). We cannot invoke continuity," he said.
Also, Lacson countered Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano's invocation of Section 136 of the Rules of the Senate, where the Rules may be amended through a motion presented at least one day before its consideration, and the vote of the majority of the Senators present in the session shall be required for its approval.
He pointed out that Section 136 would apply if there was no referral, but the records of the May 11 session showed there was a referral of the matter to the Committee on Rules, which the Senate President had actually confirmed during Lacson’s interpellation.
Marcoleta earlier proposed an amendment to Rule 14 on Senate sessions by inserting a new paragraph allowing a senator "for justifiable reasons" to attend and participate in the session through teleconference, video conference, or other reliable forms of remote or electronic means, using appropriate information and communications technology.
Cayetano suggested giving the Committee on Rules "time to discuss the matter," and the session was suspended until later in the evening.
"Now my question is, was there any discussion by the Committee on Rules? Apparently, there was none. Because it's now being reported out by the acting Majority Leader without consultation with any of the members," Lacson said.
"You cannot just ram it down our throat," he added.
Meanwhile, Alyansa ng Bantay sa Kapayapaan at Demokrasya, People’s Alliance for Democracy and Reforms, Liga Independencia Pilipinas, and the Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement convener Jose Antonio Goitia said the Senate “has hit a new low” under Senate President Cayetano, pointing to an institution in visible decline, one that has traded the statesmanship of Jose “Pepe” Diokno, Raul Roco, Juan Flavier, Miriam Defensor Santiago, and Franklin Drilon for something far less dignified.
“The Senate’s role has shifted from producing statesmen to becoming increasingly driven by political survival rather than public good,” Goitia said. “You may have disagreed with them politically, but they never reduced the Senate into a spectacle.”
He said the reorganization of the Blue-Ribbon Committee became Exhibit A for many critics, as public concern intensified after Senator Marcoleta was named Vice Chairman despite the Ombudsman seeking a hold-departure order against him in connection with complaints involving plunder, bribery, and campaign irregularities.
He said the man now helping oversee corruption investigations is himself facing serious legal controversies.
“For many Filipinos, the Blue-Ribbon Committee once symbolized accountability,” Goitia said. “Now people are asking whether it can still credibly investigate corruption when some of its own members are facing major legal controversies.”
“Then there is Bato dela Rosa. The Senate majority’s maneuvering around the ICC proceedings, which critics described as attempts to politically protect a colleague facing international legal scrutiny, demanded a clear institutional response. The Supreme Court gave one instead: a 9-5-1 vote denying dela Rosa’s TRO request, with Justice Caguioa warning that courts must never become instruments of impunity. At a time when some politicians were protecting alliances, members of the judiciary were defending the rule of law,” Goitia said.
Right on cue, Senator Imee Marcos surfaced claims of a plot to convene a constitutional assembly. Goitia dismissed the narrative as a political distraction that emerged at the exact moment public scrutiny of the Dela Rosa controversy was intensifying.
“When serious questions are being raised, sudden political conspiracies appear to redirect public attention,” Goitia said. “The public is not blind.”
“Neither is the irony lost on many Filipinos. The House of Representatives — long criticized for political theater — is now increasingly being viewed as the more stable and disciplined chamber. According to Goitia, the Senate’s present leadership bears responsibility for the institution’s declining credibility. The irony is painful,” according to the civic group’s leader.
