MANILA, Philippines – The Senate minority bloc on Tuesday, June 2, called on Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to resign after the majority bloc, on his bidding, did not attend the plenary session for a second consecutive day.

“Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano should resign as he has shown that he cannot function as the leader of the Senate,” the minority bloc senators said in a statement read by Senator Erwin Tulfo in a media interview at the Senate session hall.

“What happened today was a clear abandonment of responsibility, a dereliction of duty, and a blatant disregard of the rules that govern this institution, because the Senate cannot be made to stop working simply because its presiding officer refuses to lead,” the group added.

Citing Rule XIV, Section 41 of the Rules of the Senate, the minority bloc said the Senate president may postpone the holding of the session after consultation with the majority leader and the minority leader.”

The members of the minority bloc led by Senator Tito Sotto said Cayetano broke this rule.

“This is not merely a procedural lapse — it is a direct violation of the Rules of the Senate and a serious disrespect for the institution and the Filipino people,” the group said.

Pangilinan said the minority bloc will “exhaust all legal remedies to address this impasse.”

They urged fellow senators from the majority bloc to join them in the plenary session on Wednesday, June 3. so they can work on pending legislation.

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson appealed to the majority senators’ “sense of duty, responsibility,” citing all the work that the upper chamber needs to do before Congress adjourns sine die on June 6.

‘Puppet Senate’?

Instead of attending the 3 pm session on Tuesday, Cayetano opted to go live on Facebook at 3:19 pm to announce that the majority bloc’s absence at the plenary session is a “protest against a puppet Senate.”

This is consistent with Cayetano’s claim on Monday, June 1, that the majority bloc skipped that day’s session to protect what he called the “independence of the Senate.” That day, Cayetano tried to keep law enforcers from serving an arrest warrant to Senator Jinggoy Estrada for plunder and graft charges linked to flood control corruption.

Senator Kiko Pangilinan said of Cayetano’s actions, “Impunity ito, hindi ito Senate independence (This is impunity, not Senate independence).”

Referring to his FB appearance, one of the minority senators quipped, “Imbis na pumasok siya, sa FB siya pumasok (Instead of attending the session, he went live on FB).”

Cayetano also said that he and his allies in the majority did not attend the session to keep the chairmanships of the blue ribbon committee, which is handling the flood control probe, and other Senate panels.

Only the 11-member minority bloc was present in the plenary. Without a quorum — or at least 13 senators physically present — the Senate could not conduct business.

Because of the lack of quorum, Senator Risa Hontiveros’ Anti-Hospital Detention Bill, which was scheduled to be tacked on Tuesday’s session, was left hanging.

With Senator Bato dela Rosa and Jinggoy Estrada in jail and effectively out of the Senate floor, the majority’s working advantage disappears, leaving the chamber evenly split at 11-11.

– Rappler.com