The two opposing camps in the Senate remained locked in a power struggle on Thursday after the Cayetano-led faction insisted that they still retain control over the chamber despite acting Senate President Win Gatchalian and allies rejecting its legitimacy and branding their flood control probe “bogus.”
The 12-member new majority, headed by Gatchalian, was headstrong that the hearing convened by Cayetano’s bloc had “no basis in the rules, calendar, or authority of the Senate,” following the leadership change on Wednesday.
The power shift effectively wiped out all the panel chairmanships pursuant to the motion by the new majority bloc, who installed Gatchalian as the acting Senate president after Cayetano’s faction boycotted the session for three consecutive days.
However, Senator Pia Cayetano, who was replaced by Senator Erwin Tulfo, strongly insisted that she is still the legitimate chair of the BRC holding the flood control investigation.
She and Senator Loren Legarda are one with Cayetano in asserting that the leadership revamp was unconstitutional due to a lack of quorum.
“What we are seeing is a naked grab for power dressed up as ‘inquiry’ and ‘oversight.’ It is nothing more than a self-serving spectacle meant to cling to positions they have already lost in a valid and constitutional reorganization of the Senate,” the Gatchalian-led bloc said in a joint statement in response.
Two separate advisories were released by Gatchalian’s office, authorizing a work-from-home arrangement to all Senate offices and shortened working hours, allowing employees to leave the chamber at 10 a.m.
Cayetano’s camp criticized the move as a veiled attempt to derail their investigation scheduled at the same time.
‘Granstading, circus’
Gatchalian’s bloc pushed back, saying they were no-shows in the plenary session for three days in a row only to “grandstand” in an “unofficial and unauthorized” hearing.
The new majority derided the probe and the Cayetano bloc’s actions as “a circus,” aimed at advancing their own political agenda.
“Even worse, they are reportedly threatening Senate employees with cases if they [do] not obeyed,” Gatchalian’s faction stressed.
Cayetano and allies lamented Thursday’s tumultuous event in the Senate as “martial-law-like,” pointing to the tight security enforced by Gatchalian’s camp that even senators were barred from entering the premises.
In a briefing prior to the hearing, Gatchalian said he did not instruct to padlock the Senate despite Cayetano’s bloc’s insistence to push through with the investigation, although he averred that strict protocol was put in place to ensure the safety and order within the complex.
He also requested the presence of DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who later figured in a physical scuffle with Pia and Senator Robin Padilla at the Senate lobby when the lawmakers fetched the 18 Marines who are resource persons to the hearing.
Remulla denied that he attempted to bar their entry, saying he was on his way out when he was pushed aside by the group.
Cayetano: I’m willing to resign
During the course of the investigation, Cayetano claimed that he was willing to step down from his post, but added that the decision remains an option to date pending the completion of the flood control probe.
Malacanang and the House of Representatives had already acknowledged the leadership change and expressed full backing to Gatchalian.
Meanwhile, Legarda, who was replaced by Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore, briefly attended the hearing to assert his dominance over the post. She clarified that she has not yet resigned, thereby still the rightful Senate President Pro Tempore.
“It’s simple: If there are 13 votes that can decide otherwise and choose someone else, I would be more than willing to yield my position. Been there, done that,” she told the panel.
Gatchalian was installed in Legarda’s post despite the majority lacking one senator to constitute a 13-majority threshold for a quorum on Wednesday, the last session day of Congress before it adjourned sine die.
Their bloc insisted that it was lawful, citing a 1949 Supreme Court jurisprudence (Avelino v Cuenco) as precedent. In the case, the high court “recognized the principle that a quorum of 12 is determined based on the number of members who are legally able to discharge the functions of the Senate,” according to the majority.
Gatchalian remained headstrong in assuming the post, saying he could discharge the powers and duties of the Senate president during Cayetano’s absence. The majority would still need one senator to cross to their bloc to officially elect Gatchalian as the new chamber’s leader
