Senator Jinggoy Estrada asserted that his co-majority member Senator Alan Peter Cayetano was still the Senate President in light of the recent “coup” where Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian was elected as Senate President Pro Tempore.
Estrada, who is currently detained because of a plunder charge, said that the 12 senators that were present at the Senate session hall could not have constituted a quorum as Section 16, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution dictated that a quorum must consider a majority of all its members.
In a typical scenario, with 24 senators the number of members needed for a quorum would be 13.
“Some senators are saying 22 na lang ang senators because of Senator Bato is nowhere to be found and myself in detention, that is incorrect,” the senator said in an ambush interview after his arraignment.
“Kami ni Senator Bato, we did not resign, buhay na buhay kami, not physically incapacitated, ibig sabihin iyong majority 24–12 plus one,” he added.
(Me and Senator Bato, we did not resign, we are alive and well, not physically incapacitated, that means the majority is 13 from 24 senators)
On Wednesday, 3 June, the minority members led by Gatchalian conducted a session where a quorum was declared with the participation of the 11 previous minority members along with majority member Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, constituting 12 total members.
The quorum was called and Gatchalian took the seat as the presiding officer of the plenary, leading to the subsequent motion of Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto to vacate all elected positions at the upper house.
In defense of their claim, the newly-formed bloc argued that the quorum call of 12 senators was in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court on the Avelino vs Cuenco case in 1949 wherein a similar number of lawmakers were recognized to allow the Senate to conduct ordinary business.
There, a total of 22 senators were deemed as able to attend the session as one senator was confined in a hospital while another was on a trip abroad.
The court had ultimately ruled that in spite it not necessarily having jurisdiction on the matter, it stated that the actions undertaken in the quorum of 12 senators were recognized.
“There is a difference between a majority of ‘all members of the House’ and a majority of ‘the House’, the latter requiring less number than the first. Therefore an aboslute majority (12) of all the members of the Senate less one (23), constitutes constitutional majority of the Senate for the purpose of a quorum,” the resolution read.
