What Senate rules say about remote voting in plenary
MANILA, Philippines — Ten senators from the minority bloc stormed out of the Senate plenary session late Tuesday in protest of a motion to change the chamber’s rules, a move they said appeared aimed at allowing fugitive Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa to participate remotely.
Sen. Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri called the move a "travesty" of parliamentary rules, warning against allowing a senator who is not physically present in session to vote on motions. The walkout also prevented the chamber from forming a quorum, or the minimum number of senators needed to vote on key decisions.
One senator from the bloc, Senate Minority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, stayed behind and moved to adjourn the session after debating with Sen. Rodante Marcoleta over the majority’s attempt to take up proposed rules on remote participation.
In verbatim
The current rules leave little room for a senator who is not present in person to be counted in an ordinary plenary session, unless the session itself has been convened through teleconference or other remote means.
That setup is allowed only under Rule XIV, Section 41, which permits the Senate president to convene a session by teleconference, video conference or other reliable remote means due to force majeure or a national emergency that may prevent the Senate from convening or senators from being physically present in the session hall.
"The President, after consultation with the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, respectively, may:
(a) Postpone the holding of the session on a day to day adjournment, or
(b) Convene and hold the session through teleconference, video conference, or other reliable forms of remote or electronic means, using appropriate information and communications technology systems, due to force majeure or the occurrence of a national emergency as determined by the majority of all the members of the Senate which may prevent the convening of the Senate or the physical presence of its members in the session hall."
In other words, the rules already allow a remote session, but only as an emergency arrangement for the chamber as a whole. They do not expressly allow an absent senator to remotely join and vote in an otherwise in-person session.
The voting rules point in the same direction. Rule XLI, Section 117 states:
"The vote of a Senator absent from the session at the moment he is called to vote shall not be counted."
This is why Marcoleta’s proposed amendment matters was objectionable. The proposal would allow a senator "for justifiable reason" to attend and participate in Senate sessions through teleconference. The minority senators objected to taking up the amendment, saying it was being rushed and should go through proper committee deliberation.
In Bato's favor
The proposal also came under suspicion because Dela Rosa, who belongs to the majority, has not returned to the Senate since leaving its protective custody on May 14 after the gunfire incident at the Senate complex. He is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan raised the question directly during Tuesday’s session: "Is this rule, Mr. President, for Senator Bato, who is not here?"
Sen. Erwin Tulfo likewise asked whether the proposed insertion was meant to allow a detained or absent colleague to vote remotely if new legal developments arose.
Former senator Leila de Lima, who was detained under trumped-up drug charges, sought court permission to join Senate plenary sessions by teleconference from the Philippine National Police's Custodial Center.
A Muntinlupa court denied her request in June 2020, arguing that her detention was not treated as force majeure or emergency covered under the Senate's teleconferencing rule. Presiding judge Liezel Aquiatan wrote in the order:
"Allowing De Lima to participate in the Senate sessions, committee hearings, and meetings via teleconferencing from within her place of detention is no different from allowing her to attend there physically. Allowing her to do so today would be tantamount to allowing her to participate even after the state of public health emergency."
In short, the rules and precedents allow remote sessions only under emergency conditions and bar counting the vote of an absent senator. — Camille Diola
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