A voluntary resignation by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano would cast him as a “hero” for sparing the chamber further turmoil, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said Monday — even as he wagered that the embattled leader would never take that step.
“If he does that, he would be a hero. But most likely he won’t do it. Want to bet?” the minority senator said in an interview over radio DZBB.
Tulfo cast doubt on how firmly Cayetano holds the loyalty of the 13 senators in the majority. He pointed to what he read as glum, disengaged faces among some of them when minority members walked out of the plenary last week during debate over revising the chamber’s rules.
That skepticism feeds into what Tulfo expects will be a turbulent session when the Senate reconvenes at 5 p.m. Monday to take up its unfinished business — proceedings he predicted would bring “fireworks,” including a possible motion to remove Cayetano and install Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian in his place.
The minority’s leverage hinges on a single vote. Tulfo said that if the bloc secures a 12th member before the session ends, tipping the numerical balance, they could move to declare every committee chairmanship vacant. Such a step would stop the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, now chaired by Sen. Pia Cayetano, from resuming its inquiry into the flood-control scandal, with Sen. Rodante Marcoleta set to head the subcommittee on the issue. On GMA TV, Tulfo had earlier said that, in Pia Cayetano’s place, he would consider Marcoleta’s insistence on leading that sub-panel an insult.
The pressure on Cayetano drew a parallel assessment from former Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who suggested the chamber may need new leadership if its problems persist. In a radio interview, Pimentel said Cayetano should weigh resigning if he cannot unite senators and restore order.
“You volunteered to lead the chamber, yet your chamber is ineffective because of constant conflicts,” Pimentel said. He described the Senate presidency as more than a hold on power, calling it a role meant to steer the institution in a clear and productive direction. Leadership becomes meaningless, he argued, when the chamber stays divided and directionless, and he warned against placing personal interests above the body’s work. What the Senate needs, he added, is someone capable of drawing its members together and easing tensions between the majority and minority, citing the recent walkouts and clashes that have disrupted proceedings. Still, he acknowledged that any decision to step down rests with Cayetano and the senators backing him.
Cayetano, for his own part, has pushed his case for an “independent Senate” focused on concerns that bear directly on Filipinos — inflation, education and agriculture among them. He has urged colleagues to turn public attention away from leadership disputes and political alignments, an appeal raised against the backdrop of moves to challenge his majority bloc and allegations of broader attempts to amend the Constitution.
