Senate workers worried about which orders carry weight in the chamber’s leadership standoff already have their answer, according to Senator Panfilo Lacson, who said the matter is clearer than the ongoing dispute suggests.
Speaking in a radio interview, Lacson argued that the position taken by a range of bodies outside the Senate should remove any doubt for staff caught between the two camps.
“Maliwanag naman sa atin kung sinong kinikilala ng Malacañang, ng House of Representatives, ng Civil Service Commission, ng Integrated Bar of the Philippines, at kung ano-ano pang mga grupo—kung sino talaga ang kinikilalang liderato ng Senado,” he said.
He named Acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian as the figure those institutions have lined up behind, framing that backing as the practical guide for anyone unsure of where authority now rests in the chamber.
Lacson reserved sharper words for Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who continues to assert that he holds the presidency. “So maliwanag na panggulo ang ginagawa ni Senator Alan [Cayetano], with all due respect–nakaka-confuse, nakakagulo,” he added.
The friction traces back to the June 3 session, when 12 senators convened a quorum while Cayetano’s group stayed away. That body declared the chamber’s leadership posts vacant and installed Gatchalian, an outcome both Malacañang and the House of Representatives have since acknowledged. Cayetano has rejected the proceedings as unconstitutional, contending that the gathering fell a vote short of the 13-member majority he says was required to act.
Cayetano had floated an interim setup pairing the two senators as joint signatories on Senate documents, an arrangement he pitched as a way to keep operations and the looming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte from stalling. Gatchalian turned the offer down, maintaining that only one person was chosen for the role on June 3 and that no genuine sharing of the post is possible.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines and several law deans have weighed in as well, according to Rappler, describing the leadership change built on the 12-member quorum as consistent with the Constitution.
