Gatchalian is acting SP as Chiz breaks impasse

Committees reorganized by new majority

MANILA, Philippines —   In a stunning, eleventh-hour coup on the final day of the legislative calendar, the 11-member minority bloc capitalized on the continued absence of the majority senators to seize control of the Senate floor, electing Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore and effectively acting Senate President.

Like on Monday and Tuesday, the quorum bell began ringing 10 minutes before the scheduled session.

At 3:19 p.m., Sen. Francis Escudero emerged from the Senate lounge onto the plenary floor, to a wave of applause and cheers from colleagues and Senate employees.

Promptly following the dramatic entrance, Gatchalian ascended the rostrum to officially preside over the session and break the two-day quorum dilemma.

Before the session, Senators Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Gatchalian, Francis Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo, Risa Hontiveros, Lito Lapid, JV Ejercito and Bam Aquino walked into the plenary through the rostrum door, the same door Sen. Ronald dela Rosa burst into when Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano wrested the leadership from Sotto.

Minutes earlier, the senators present were each handed a one-page paper from Cayetano. A copy obtained by the media hours after the coup showed it was Cayetano telling senators the session had already been adjourned sine die and shall resume July 27, on the fifth State of the Nation Address of President Marcos.

Cayetano-appointee Secretary Jose Luis Montales was directed by Gatchalian to call the roll, but he refused with a grimace. This prompted Gatchalian to direct instead deputy Secretary Marivic Garcia, who proceeded to call the roll. Gatchalian announced the presence of a quorum and opened the session.

Sotto then stood up to declare all seats vacant, and then nominated Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore. This was because the required number to elect a Senate president is 13, as per Senate rules and the Constitution.

The motion was quickly carried and Gatchalian took his oath of office before thanking his colleagues.

Since an absolute threshold of 13 votes is traditionally required to elect a new Senate president, the bloc installed Gatchalian as pro tempore so he could legally run the session.

12, functional majority

However, Gatchalian and newly elected Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri maintained that a 12-vote base effectively constitutes a functional majority, given the current active quorum of 22 senators following recent chamber absences.

Zubiri then moved to strip the absent majority members of their committees, with Sen. Erwin Tulfo given the Blue Ribbon committee which, under the previous chair Sen. Pia Cayetano, is set to conduct a hearing today on the flood control scam.

Sen. JV Ejercito meanwhile gained the chairmanship of the committee on finance, while Sotto was named national defense chairman. Lacson assumed the chairmanship of the committee on public order and accounts; Raffy Tulfo, public services; Aquino, basic education; Pangilinan, agriculture; Lapid, games and amusement; Escudero, housing and Zubiri, foreign relations.

As majority leader, Zubiri also chairs the rules committee. He nominated former secretary Renato Bantug to replace Montales and police Maj. Gen. Alfred Sotto Corpuz as new sergeant-at-arms, replacing controversial Mao Aplasca and acting sergeant-at-arms Manuel Parlade.

In a statement, the 12-member majority declared that Cayetano is no longer Senate president.

“For clarity, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano is no longer Senate president after the Senate, with 12 senators present and a quorum declared based on the recognized base number of 22 under Avelino v. Cuenco, voted to declare all positions vacant, including the presidency of the institution,” the new majority said.

Far from over

While the “Solid Bloc 11” plus one may have succeeded in taking over the leadership, the impasse is far from over – at least according to Cayetano.

Cayetano said today’s scheduled Blue Ribbon committee hearing will still push through to hear the testimonies of the “18 ex-Marines” who alleged to have delivered suitcases of kickbacks to administration allies.

Cayetano sent to the media a copy of a memorandum identifying himself as the “Senate President” giving “all Senate officials and personnel” the “authority to conduct business and proceed with scheduled committee hearings during the sine die adjournment.”

“All Senate officials and personnel are hereby formally informed that the O?ce of the Senate President remains fully operational, and the incumbent Senate President continues to hold and exercise the powers, functions and prerogatives of the said o?ce,” Cayetano’s memo read.

Cayetano directed the sergeant-at-arms “to take all necessary and appropriate measures to facilitate and ensure the orderly entry, identification and accommodation” of the expected witnesses.

“All Senate o?cials and employees are expected to discharge their o?cial functions in accordance with their oaths of o?ce and in full compliance with existing laws, Civil Service rules and the o?cial directives of the Senate President,” he added.

In his two Facebook Live appearances after he was stripped of his post, Cayetano said he would write to the Senate secretary and sergeant-at-arms to keep the Senate open and not prevent his entry. -  Marc Jayson Cayabyab