JPE: Quorum call needed in Senate deliberations

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate minority will raise the question of quorum during deliberations on important legislation, including the proposed Basic Law for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR), Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday. 

“Yesterday was a historic day, because we have taken up a bill that, in my personal opinion, will affect the well-being, stability and/or instability, and the viability of our country’s status as a free and independent state and I refer to the measure dealing with the problem in Mindanao,” Enrile said during the plenary session.

He noted that there were “very few senators” when the debates on the BLBAR kicked off on Monday. 

Enrile said the minority group’s position is based on “a matter of duty without intention to offend anybody” and “a matter of duty to the country and the people that we serve.”

“I hope you will understand that whenever we see the need to bring senators on the floor we’ll have to make a quorum call. I think this is a fair position and I hope the majority will not begrudge us,” he added.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said Enrile’s manifestation was a welcome reminder. He directed the secretariat to immediately distribute the transcript of the minority leader’s manifestation to all senators.

In an interview before session, Enrile, who is on temporary liberty after he was allowed to post bail in connection with the plunder charges he is facing, said he met with the members of the Senate minority group and they agreed to perform their job “not for ourselves, but for the country.”  

Sen. Vicente Sotto III said the meeting was held over lunch before the session yesterday. He said they discussed the developments on major bills pending before the chamber. 

“It’s all Senate work that we discussed, no politics,” Sotto said.

Meanwhile, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) executive secretary Laisa Masuhud Alamia commended the Senate for starting the plenary debates on the BLBAR even as she appealed to the senators to also consider the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).– With Jose Rodel Clapano