Standing among earthquake survivors in General Santos City, Vice President Sara Duterte turned the Senate’s leadership feud into a critique of the man who sits in Malacañang, arguing that the chaos in the upper chamber says more about the national government than about the warring senators themselves.
Duterte made the remarks Wednesday in an ambush interview after visiting victims of the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck Mindanao on June 8, leaving dozens dead across General Santos and nearby Sarangani province. Pressed by reporters on the standoff between Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Alan Peter Cayetano, she framed the dispute as a symptom of something larger.
“‘Yung kaguluhan sa Senado ay nagsasalamin ng leadership ng administrasyon. ‘Yung kaguluhan at walang direksyon ng ating bansa ay nagsasalamin ng kung ano ‘yung klase ng leadership meron ang nakaupo sa Palasyo at ng ating administrasyon,” she said.
She extended the point beyond the legislature, suggesting the disorder reflects a vacuum at the top. “Dahil lahat naman ng tao eh, nagre-recognize sila ng kung ano ‘yung direksyon ng isang leader. Pero kapag wala ‘yung direksyon, wala ‘yung vision ay nagkakani-kaniya talaga ang mga tao. ‘Yan ‘yung nakikita natin hindi lang sa Senado but sa buong bansa,” she added.
The vice president declined to send any individual appeal to the two rival camps. Instead, she argued that the Senate’s 24 members are bound together as one body and should collectively sort out their duties under the Constitution — including, she noted, those currently jailed or in hiding.
“Well, wala akong indibidwal na mensahe para sa ating mga miyembro ng Senado pero dahil sila ay hindi dalawang grupo kundi isang institusyon ay dapat pag-usapan nung bente-kwatro kasama ‘yung nakulong, kasama ‘yung nagtatago kung ano ba dapat ang prayoridad ng kanilang institusyon at ano ‘yung kanilang trabaho na naaayon sa ating Saligang Batas,” she said.
Her references point to two absent senators. Jinggoy Estrada is being held at the New Quezon City Male Dormitory Jail in Payatas as he faces plunder and graft charges before the Sandiganbayan, while Ronald Dela Rosa dropped out of sight after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
The crisis Duterte was reacting to traces back to June 3, when a bloc of senators declared the chamber’s leadership posts vacant and installed Gatchalian as acting Senate president, a maneuver Cayetano has denounced as an illegal coup and rejected as unconstitutional. The two have since issued competing directives to Senate staff and clashed over control of committee work, with the deadlock raising the prospect of intervention by the high court.
On the question of whether the June 3 quorum declared by Gatchalian’s group was lawful, Duterte said she would not weigh in, expressing hope that the judiciary would supply the answer.
“Wala akong legal na opinyon sa mga pangyayari. Mas mabuti sana kung mayroon o masasagot ng Korte Suprema kung ano ba talaga ang i-recognize at ano ba dapat ang ways forward ng ating Senado,” she said.
The leadership fight carries direct stakes for Duterte, whose impeachment trial — set to open July 6 under the timetable the chamber adopted — will be steered by whoever ultimately presides over the Senate.
