Where our taxes go

The Senate minority walked out on Tuesday last week because the majority was moving to railroad an amendment of their rules that would allow senators who are in hiding or detained without bail to participate in deliberations and vote remotely.

It wasn’t about preventing the Blue Ribbon hearings under the Drama Queen, as Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano maintains.

On Monday, the majority skipped the plenary session to keep a colleague accused of plunder company.

The minority, informed that there would be no session only after waiting for two hours during which the air-conditioning was cut off, described this as a violation of their rules, which requires consultation with the minority leader before the day’s session can be canceled.

The Senate majority should have completed the moral support and joined Sen. Jinggoy Estrada in detention without bail at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, the site of a decommissioned dump.

Yesterday, the majority continued what the minority condemned as “abandonment of responsibility and dereliction of duty,” again boycotting the session.

Constitutional experts have weighed in by citing Section 16(1) of Article 6 in the Constitution covering the legislature.

It states: “A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the attendance of absent Members in such manner, and under such penalties, as such House may provide.”

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This latest installment of Senateflix diluted the positive impact of Estrada’s “surrender” speech (he was arrested, Jonvic Remulla insists), which included what seemed to many as barbs pointed at wanted senator Ronald dela Rosa.

He would not use the Senate as a refuge, Estrada said, and he would not accept pay while he is incapacitated from legislative work. In the first place, a plunder indictment does not accord him immunity from arrest even right inside the Senate.

Tearful faces were again seen at the Senate (or maybe that was just Botox leaking) as Estrada walked out for the drive to the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at Camp Crame.

Senate President Cayetano, who will be remembered for presiding over the most chaotic and disgraceful Senate ever, led the majority in boycotting Monday’s session. After keeping the minority waiting for hours, the SP posted a statement calling for the chamber to go silent.

Go silent – for whom? For what? To strike a blow for plunder? For impunity?

This is where our taxes go.

The Senate majority has elevated no work with full pay to an art. We their employers should demand a refund of their fat salaries, allowances and office maintenance and operating expenses.

Dela Rosa is in good company in playing truant, with full pay, in admirable defense of the entitlements of power.

The boycott saved SP Cayetano from presiding over a chamber where the minority and majority are tied 11-11 in terms of in-person attendance. Former SP Franklin Drilon described him as a king without a kingdom.

Going silent and paralyzing legislation should constitute destabilization and economic sabotage.

What a waste of billions in our hard-earned taxes. This bunch should really just keep their beloved colleague Jinggoy Estrada company in jail. And they should follow his example of committing to no work, no pay.

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Unable to just nuke the Senate out of existence, frustrated Pinoys have come up with all sorts of names and acronyms for the majority. The Unlucky 13 (unlucky for us toiling taxpayers). NPA, for non-performing asses (that’s right, no “t”). PNB, for palamunin ng bayan.

But nothing beats Sen. Raffy Tulfo’s public challenge to Cayetano, hurled on the Senate floor yesterday: “Kung matapang ka, pumunta ka dito. Kung hindi, duwag ka.” As of last night, there was no direct response to that.

The boycott might have spared Cayetano from a coup, rumors of which have persisted almost since he grabbed the Senate presidency by using Dela Rosa.

People were reminded of how in 2020, Cayetano refused to honor what was described as a “gentleman’s agreement” brokered in 2019 by no less than his former boss, then president Rodrigo Duterte, for a term-sharing arrangement that would see Cayetano turning over the speakership of the House after 15 months to Marinduque congressman Lord Allan Velasco.

Cayetano suspended House proceedings on Oct. 6 to prevent Velasco’s takeover, cutting off electricity, disabling WiFi and ordering the plenary hall padlocked. Velasco’s camp then held a session at the Celebrity Sports Plaza on Oct. 12, during which 186 congressmen elected him as speaker.

Former Senate president Koko Pimentel had a suggestion: Cayetano should quit as SP to restore stability and save the chamber. The minority Solid Bloc-11 or SB-11 issued the same call yesterday, effectively describing Cayetano as unfit to lead.

Pimentel didn’t suggest any particular senator; Cayetano can be replaced by another member of the majority. Although considering that criminal indictments (and tearful histrionics) appear to be the thread holding this bloc together, it can be tough to find an alternative from the majority.

The business community, still struggling to keep its head above the turbulent waters of the fuel crisis and the paralysis in the construction sector, has heartily applauded reports that Sherwin Gatchalian might replace Cayetano.

Gatchalian is said to be acceptable to both the SB-11 and the PNB. He has expressed readiness for the job.

But the minority needs two senators to defect for the required 13 votes. Tito Sotto and Panfilo Lacson are said to be adamantly opposed to the political pokpok. That leaves... well, let’s just wait for it to happen.

The sooner the leadership change happens, the better for the Senate, which under Cayetano is teetering on the brink of collapse.