Senator Erwin Tulfo revealed Thursday that members of the Gatchalian-led bloc were actively courting some of their colleagues in the Cayetano faction to finally put an end to the persistent leadership dispute in the upper chamber.

Tulfo stopped short of disclosing the names of the recruiters, although he gave a hint when he said they were “senior members of the majority.”

“Like Senator Chiz (Escudero), his friends in the majority convinced him. That’s why he switched [sides],” Tulfo said in a radio interview.

“That’s normal. Now I heard they’re convincing one or two more in the minority to cross over,” he added.

Several senators in the Gatchalian-led bloc have made similar claims but did not disclose who the potential defectors were.

Power struggle

Recent reports, however, indicated that Senator Joel Villanueva could break the impasse by jumping from Cayetano’s faction to the 12-member now majority bloc led by Acting Senate President Win Gatchalian.

Although unconfirmed, Villanueva’s shift in allegiance would strengthen the Gatchalian faction, firming up its position as the legitimate majority bloc with control of the Senate amid the strong opposition from Cayetano’s camp.

DAILY TRIBUNE reached out to Villanueva, but he had yet to respond at press time.

The two rival camps remain locked in a power struggle as Cayetano’s faction has been steadfast in refusing to honor the 3 June leadership change that installed Gatchalian as Acting Senate President after Cayetano and his allies boycotted the session for three consecutive days.

Cayetano’s bloc has contested the Gatchalian group’s takeover as “unconstitutional” for lacking one vote from the 13-member majority threshold needed to declare a quorum, conduct business, and elect new officers.

However, Domingo Cayosa, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said only one senator breaking away from Cayetano’s camp would break the impasse without the need for Supreme Court intervention.

If this does not happen, however, the standoff will persist, as the High Court is unlikely to meddle in the affairs of a coequal branch of government.

Political question

“The Supreme Court does not interfere in political questions or internal rules, matters of other branches of government, such as the executive or legislative, because of the separation of powers doctrine,” said Cayosa, adding that the legislators themselves should resolve the row.

A high school teacher, Barry Tayam, recently sought the SC’s help to resolve the leadership fiasco by declaring the 12-member quorum valid in favor of the Gatchalian bloc.

His petition was junked by the SC on Wednesday, however, for lack of legal standing and because he failed to show that he suffered a direct injury or imminent harm from the acts being challenged.

Cayosa said the dismissal was a glaring example of the Supreme Court’s reluctance to interfere in a highly political issue since it did not issue a definitive ruling and therefore did not rule on the merits of the case.

Senator Tito Sotto agreed, saying that some “wishful thinkers” misunderstood the SC’s action as a decision on the controversy.

“The petition was not justiciable, therefore, there was no need for SC to take it up,” Sotto told reporters.

Simple majority

Gatchalian and his allies have countered that the leadership change was lawful in accordance with previous Senate precedents, particularly the landmark 1949 Supreme Court case Avelino v. Cuenco.

The jurisprudence allowed the adjustment of the base number of senators when certain members were legally beyond the Senate’s coercive reach.

Because of this, the Gatchalian-led faction insisted the simple majority was now 12 senators because the base number had dropped from 24 to 22 following the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada and the continued absence of Senator Ronald de la Rosa who is in hiding.  Both belong to the Cayetano bloc.

The new majority has also received the support of Malacañang, the House of Representatives, legal luminaries and law deans, all of whom have recognized Gatchalian as the legitimate Senate leader.