Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has cautioned colleague Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian against allowing himself to be exploited by Malacañang, even as the two remain locked in a dispute over who legitimately holds the Senate presidency.
“Mag-ingat si Sen. Win kasi maganda naman ang future niya. Huwag kang magpagamit sa Malacañang at doon sa mga kasamahan mo kahit binibigyan ka ng high position,” Cayetano said during a Facebook livestream on Saturday.
The warning came as Cayetano extended an invitation for the two to sit down and resolve the standoff. “I’ll offer you a solution, Senator Win. Mag-meeting tayo. May naiisip akong solusyon. Mahirap humanap ng solusyon kung sino ang tunay na Senate president kasi ‘yung tatlong libro na hawak ko ay nagsasabing ang legitimate Senate president ay ‘yung nahalal ng 13,” he said, gesturing to copies of the Philippine Constitution, the Senate Rules, and the Bible on his desk.
At the heart of the disagreement is how many votes are needed to install a Senate leader. Cayetano maintains that the chamber’s top officials — the secretary, sergeant-at-arms, Senate president pro tempore, and Senate president — require the backing of 13 senators. He pointed to a constitutional provision distinguishing the threshold for electing a chamber’s presiding officer from the lower bar set for a quorum. “The Senate shall elect its president and the House of Representatives its speaker by the majority vote of all of its members… Iba po ‘yon sa sinasabi rito ‘a majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business,” he said.
The opposing camp grounds its position in a 1949 Supreme Court ruling. During a June 3 session attended by 12 senators — the minority bloc together with Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero — a quorum was declared on the strength of Avelino v. Cuenco, in which the Court held that 12 members form a constitutional majority for quorum purposes after one senator, Tomas Confesor, was abroad and beyond the chamber’s reach. That session saw all elected Senate posts vacated, after which Gatchalian was elected Senate President Pro Tempore and subsequently declared acting Senate president by those present. Committee assignments were reshuffled in the process.
A statement from what the bloc called the “new majority” announced Wednesday that Cayetano no longer holds the Senate presidency. He has rejected that characterization, asserting he is still the “legitimate, legal and moral” leader of the chamber.
Senator Loren Legarda echoed Cayetano’s reasoning in her own video statement Saturday, arguing that the precedent no longer applies. “[Taong] 1949 pa ang kasong ito at naganap sa ilalim ng 1935 Constitution. Nagbago na ang Saligang Batas, 1987 Constitution na ang sumasaklaw sa atin,” she said. “Dito, malinaw na labing tatlo ang kinakailangang boto para maghalal ng pangulo ng Senado, at parehong bilang din ang kinakailangan para sa pagboto ng mga opisyal.”
Gatchalian pushed back on that interpretation, citing support from legal authorities. “Of course, we respect her opinion, but matibay rin ang opinion ng Integrated Bar of the Philippines, ‘yung association ng mga law school deans, of course, ‘yung mga former Senate presidents,” he told reporters. The IBP and other legal experts have previously affirmed that the Gatchalian bloc’s reliance on Avelino v. Cuenco is sound.
Malacañang, for its part, has sided with Gatchalian. “Ang nangyari sa Senado ngayong hapon ay naaayon sa batas at Rule of Law. Kinikilala at nirerespeto ng Palasyo ang desisyon ng bagong mayorya at ang liderato ni acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Wednesday.
Cayetano also leveled accusations at Senator Panfilo Lacson, claiming the former Blue Ribbon Committee chair had steered hearings to shield the previous majority. “Basically ang sinasabi, nakipagsabwatan si Senator Lacson sa administrasyon para iporma laban kay Jinggoy, kay Chiz, kay Joel, etc. Regardless kung may zero truth, partial truth… and then may mga pinagtakpan from masterminds [to] lower,” he said. He claimed that this was when he realized the senators’ alleged ties to the flood control scandal were “negotiable,” recounting Lacson’s purported suggestion to approach those in charge because a particular witness lacked credibility. Lacson has not yet responded to the allegations.
