Cayetano’s no-shows blocking Sara’s trial

Why is Alan Cayetano’s Majority boycotting Senate sessions?

One alibi is to protest the arrest of colleague Jinggoy Estrada for P573-million plunder. That decimated the Majority from 13 to 11. Bato dela Rosa is also out of Senate jurisdiction because he is hiding from International Criminal Court arrest warrant for mass murder. Cayetano sidekick Rodante Marcoleta chided the Minority, also 11, for not protesting with them.

Another excuse is Senate “independence.” Cayetano doesn’t want any more arrests of Majority members indicted or about to be for non-bailable plunder. That includes Marcoleta, who is facing a P75-million complaint at the ombudsman. Also Joel Villanueva who, like Estrada, is implicated in the P1.7-trillion floodworks scam. An ICC arrest warrant is also expected against “co-perpetrator” Bong Go.

But it’s more insidious than those. By absenting, Cayetano et al can:

(1) Avert his fall from office. Cayetano can remain Senate President, although with only 10, probably seven, followers left. A king without a kingdom, former SP Franklin Drilon pictured him.

(2) Avoid scheduling the trial of their impeached political patron-ally VP Sara Duterte. In fact, that’s Cayetano et al’s original mission. They staged a leadership coup on May 11 precisely to save Sara. The House of Reps overwhelmingly was impeaching Sara that day.

The Senate is to adjourn sine die today, June 5. As a legislative body it will resume session on the fourth Monday of July, the 27, for the President’s State of the Nation Address.

But as an impeachment court formed last May 18, it’s now any which way for Cayetano et al. To hell with their constitutional duty to proceed with the impeachment trial “forthwith.”

Adjourning sine die, in parliamentary context, marks the official end of the legislative session for the year. All unfinished bills typically “die” at this point and must be reintroduced in the next session.

In court proceedings, adjourning sine die pauses the case indefinitely. It remains open but has no scheduled future date.

Monday June 1 was deadline for Sara to submit her defense. She sent to the Senate court five suitcases of documents supposedly to refute charges of P4.43-billion unexplained wealth, P612-million malversation, bribery and assassination plots against President Bongbong Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta and ex-Speaker Martin Romualdez.

To the surprise of House prosecutors, Sara’s documents were not solid refutations. They were mere rehash of technicalities against impeachment investigations long presented to the House committee on justice and to the Supreme Court. Sara has no solid defense, only blah-blah – and her Senate Majority allies-patrons know it.

Next steps should be pre-trial conference to determine the documents and witnesses to be presented, June 15-26, and commencement of trial, July 6. Minority leader Tito Sotto said those are on Senate records.

But here’s the catch. House prosecution chief Rep. Gerville Luistro has not received from the Senate court formal notices of the two events. “I read the dates only in news reports,” she told GMA News Tuesday. “I’m still waiting for the formal notices from the Senate court.”

The House prosecution secretariat hasn’t been notified either, spokesman Rep. Lorenz Defensor told this writer Wednesday. “We received Viber messages about the dates, but no notice stating, ‘You are hereby directed to attend...’” So they don’t know if the Senate court will be ready to receive the House prosecutors on June 15-26 and July 6.

“That’s what’s wrong with our present leader – too many lapses,” Sotto confided.

Three in four Filipinos want Sara to face Senate trial, surveys show. But at the rate things are going, there won’t be any.

Cayetano might repeat what then-SP Chiz Escudero did in February-July 2025. Instead of commencing trial forthwith, Escudero gave all sorts of excuses to delay it till the Supreme Court came to Sara’s rescue.

Citing a fictitious ABS-CBN news report, 13 justices unanimously ruled that Sara’s impeachment was never approved by the House plenary. Yet official records and CCTV footages showed the plenary on Feb. 5, 2025.

Meanwhile, public criticisms of “non-performance” and “unstatesmanlike politicking” beleaguer Cayetano’s Majority. They’re waiting for a face-saver – a joint demonstration by religious sects of Marcoleta and Villanueva.

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