Of actors and ‘acting’

The Senate of the 20th Congress is perhaps the most star-studded, having four actors-turned-politicians among its ranks. And given the tele-novela drama of sorts in the continuing Senate leadership struggle, the talents for acting of other senators have come to fore with their flair for drama.

The four senators who are legitimate showbiz-grade actors are erstwhile Senate president and now Senate minority leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto, Senators Lito Lapid, Robinhood Padilla and Jinggoy Estrada.

Senators Pia Cayetano and Loren Legarda teared up following the dramatic chase on Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa last May 11. More tears flowed last Monday when Senators Imee Marcos and Camille Villar unabashedly cried when fellow majority bloc member Sen. Jinggoy Estrada surrendered to the warrant of arrest served to him at his Senate office.

On May 11, Sen. Bato unexpectedly arrived and delivered the 13th vote that ousted Sotto and installed then Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President. Dodging that day the service of warrant of arrest by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Cayetano-led majority granted Senate protective custody to Sen. Bato. Immediately after taking over the helm of the Senate, they sought to amend the Senate rules to allow virtual or online attendance in Senate sessions and hearings.

Naturally, many senators balked at the proposed amendment introduced by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. Cayetano could not afford to lose his fledgling leadership at the Senate and agreed to refer the matter to the committee on rules.

Meanwhile, the agents of NBI Director Melvin Matibag – still smarting from the botched arrest of Sen.Bato – figured in yet another action-packed drama two days later. Retired Police Gen. Mao Aplasca, who just got installed as head of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSSA), engaged the NBI agents in a brief exchange of gunfire at the Senate-leased annex. Hours after the OSSA-NBI gunfire engagement ended, the Senate CCTV caught Sen. Bato with a female aide leaving the Senate premises, riding with Sen. Robinhood.

As soon as they resumed session on May 18, the new Senate minority, now led by Sotto, demanded a full-blown floor discussions on this unprecedented gunfire exchange incident in the history of the Philippine Senate. However, Cayetano invoked the need to reorganize first the chairmanships of various standing committees, such as the committee on rules, before deciding on the matter. 

After a week-long stonewalling of Cayetano, senators collectively calling themselves the “Solid Bloc 11” walked out of the session hall last Tuesday (May 26). The walkout dramatized their exasperation over the persistence of the new majority bloc to ram through virtual attendance of senators in the guise of “force majeure” events. 

Tit for tat. The Cayetano-led majority bloc members made a dramatic no-show when they resumed session last Monday.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) – himself a senator in the past – expressed his dismay at why the present crop of senators would insist on something not allowed in their time-honored rules on physical presence.

The Marcos administration is not bereft though of its own version of drama. In terms of Cabinet members, PBBM has been appointing his Cabinet officials in “acting” capacity only. Leading these “acting” Marcos Cabinet members is Executive Secretary Ralph Recto. Although he easily breezed through the Commission on Appointments (CA) when he was first appointed as finance secretary, Recto remains up to now as “acting” executive secretary since Nov. 19, 2025.

Recto replaced former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin who, along with former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary Amenah Pangandaman, resigned at the height of the scandal on the alleged “ghost” flood control projects. Former Presidential Economic Adviser Frederick Go assumed as “acting” finance secretary vice Recto, while DBM Undersecretary Rolando Toledo took over as “acting” DBM secretary, replacing Pangandaman.

Last May 18, PBBM appointed DBM Undersecretary Kim Robert de Leon as the new “acting” DBM secretary to replace Toledo, who is now with the GSIS Board of Trustees. De Leon, the youngest member of the Cabinet at 32 years old, was sworn in that day.

Just last Monday, PBBM appointed to his Cabinet former senator Francis Tolentino as his new “acting” secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Tolentino replaced 75-year-old DOLE secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, who has been suffering from an undisclosed ailment.

Tolentino – who ran but lost under the administration-backed Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate in the May 2025 senatorial election – took his oath of office at Malacañang on the same day. PBBM admitted he may appoint other Alyansa bets with the lapse of one-year ban on appointment of losing candidates.

As his administration enters its last three years in office, PBBM dismissed a rumored new Cabinet shake-up.

Former DILG secretary Benhur Abalos, who also ran but lost in the Alyansa Senate ticket, is seen as making a Cabinet comeback soon. Coffeeshop talks believe Abalos may be tapped to replace Recto or take over from “acting” justice secretary Fredderick Vida.

An “acting” secretary typically wields the same operational, budgetary and policy-making authority as a confirmed, permanent secretary. As the alter ego of the President, they can manage day-to-day departmental operations, issue regulations and allocate resources. The “acting” secretaries can remain in office up to one year, unless otherwise replaced. In the meantime, these “acting” secretaries avoid going through the CA gauntlet.

A bigger number of Marcos Cabinet officials remain in “acting” capacity for more than a year now since they were all appointed in February last year. They include: “acting” transportation secretary Giovanni Lopez; “acting” public works and highways secretary Vince Dizon; “acting” environment and natural resources secretary Juan Miguel “Mitch” Cuna and “acting” Presidential Communications Office secretary Dave Gomez.

Since PBBM did not submit their permanent appointments up to now, the 25-man CA has not tabled these “acting” secretaries for confirmation.

The 20th Congress adjourns session sine die this week. We will see how the actors in the Senate telenovela wind down their drama while “acting” secretaries go about their jobs without CA blessings.