The Senate majority bloc skipped the plenary for the second straight day on Tuesday, leaving not only their colleagues in the minority but also crucial bills in limbo.
The “Solid Bloc 11” showed up at the session hall only to be told that the other senators were not coming, including Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, who had presided over a hearing earlier in the day.
Without a quorum, the minority senators cannot call the session to order.
The minority senators accused Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano of violating the Senate rules by deliberately withholding a quorum.
Majority defends action
With its numbers reduced following the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada and the continued absence of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the majority bloc said their absence was intended to safeguard the ongoing investigations, particularly the probe into alleged anomalies in government flood control projects.
In a statement, the senators said recent developments had shifted the Senate’s numerical balance and raised concerns over possible attempts to take control of key committees handling sensitive inquiries. They stressed that the issue went beyond the Senate presidency and centered on whether corruption probes involving billions in public funds would proceed without political interference.
The majority bloc said the changes were not enough to alter the Senate leadership but could affect committee control depending on which senators are present during sessions. It also alleged renewed efforts to take control of key committees after earlier attempts to unseat Cayetano failed.
At the center of the dispute is the ongoing Senate investigation into flood control projects, which seeks to determine if public funds were properly used and if officials or private individuals should be held accountable for irregularities. The majority said any move to reshape the committee leadership would raise questions about motive and timing.
The senators also rejected criticism that they had abandoned their duties by refusing to provide a quorum, saying that past walkouts by the minority had been defended as valid parliamentary action. They maintained that withholding a quorum is a legitimate mechanism to prevent temporary shifts in membership from affecting ongoing investigations.
‘Senate not a puppet’
Cayetano went live on Facebook at 3:30 p.m., claiming that their absence was a form of retaliation for the walkout staged by the minority last week.
The ulterior motive, according to the Taguig lawmaker, is to snatch back the Senate presidency from him and make the institution a “puppet” of Malacañang.
“So now that there is no quorum and no session yesterday and today, these are protests, protests against a puppet Senate that they want,” Cayetano said in Filipino.
“We need to look at what is happening in the Senate in the broader context. Do we want the Senate to be a tool to ferret out the truth, or a tool to hide the truth?” he added.
Majority senators threatened
Cayetano and his allies have alleged that the minority bloc, led by former Senate President Tito Sotto, has been pressuring majority senators to switch sides, with assurances that criminal cases against them linked to the alleged flood control kickback scheme would not proceed.
Cayetano cited the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada inside the Senate on Monday on non-bailable plunder charges. Before being taken into custody, Estrada declared that he would not switch allegiance despite what he described as internal pressure. He also claimed the charges were politically motivated and intended to intimidate dissenters.
The minority, meanwhile, has accused the majority of amending the Senate rules to shield its members from arrest.
There has been speculation that Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Joel Villanueva could face arrest over their alleged involvement in the kickback scheme.
“[They] don’t want to have a hearing of the Blue Ribbon because the whole truth will come out,” Cayetano said. “It will be revealed that they abused the Blue Ribbon Committee. They abused the DoJ and the Ombudsman’s investigation.”
Despite the standoff, Cayetano said the Blue Ribbon Committee’s flood control probe would proceed as scheduled on Thursday.
Stalled bills
Due to the two-day boycott by the majority, the approval of several priority measures has stalled. These include, among others, the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, amendments to the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, and strengthening the Anti-Hospital Detention Act, which aims to permanently end the illegal practice of holding patients and cadavers for unpaid bills.
In a press briefing shortly after the minority caucus, Senator Miguel Zubiri said Cayetano should be blamed for the stalled bills.
The minority also called for Cayetano’s resignation for stirring up division in the chamber, citing recent events that put the Senate in a bad light, including the 13 May gunfire incident triggered by the Senate’s protective custody of Senator Bato dela Rosa, who is evading an ICC warrant.
The absence of the majority senators from the plenary also left hanging the confirmation of the ad interim appointment of several military generals and the granting of Philippine citizenship to Bennie Boatwright III and Matthew James Ramos.