Senate personnel will observe an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule whenever a public holiday lands on a Friday, according to an advisory released Tuesday by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who continues to present himself as the chamber’s president despite a rival bloc having installed its own leader earlier this month.
The directive, which carried the “Office of the Senate President” heading, was framed around the approaching June 12 commemoration of Independence Day, set this year for a Friday.
“In view of the upcoming Independence Day on Friday, June 12, 2026, please be reminded that… the Senate shall automatically implement the 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. working hours should a holiday falls on a Friday,” Cayetano wrote.
The issuance is the latest signal that Cayetano has refused to step back from the presidency since June 3, the date a separate group of senators moved against his leadership. He and the lawmakers aligned with him have characterized the standing of Senate Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian as “illegitimate.”
That characterization stems from a session in which 12 senators declared all leadership posts vacant before electing a new slate of officers, elevating Gatchalian to acting Senate president, as reported by the Philippine News Agency. Gatchalian’s camp has maintained that Cayetano forfeited the post after failing to appear when sessions were scheduled to resume on June 1 and 2.
The competing assertions have left Senate staff fielding contradictory instructions, with the two camps issuing separate directives on matters ranging from office attendance to the signing of official documents.
