Hiniling ng grupo ni Senador Alan Peter Cayetano sa Supreme Court na ideklarang null and void ang sesyon ng Senado noong Hunyo 3 kung saan hinalal si Senador Sherwin Gatchalian bilang Senate President Pro Tempore at acting Senate president.
Giit ng Cayetano bloc sa SC, magpalabas ng status quo ante order (SQAO).
Hindi kasama sa nagpetisyon sina Senador Mark Villar at Joel Villanueva kaya lumakas ang ispekulasyon na mag-o-ober da bakod ito sa kampo ni Gatchalian.
Kapag nagkataon, magiging 14 na ang miyembro ng grupo ni Gatchalian para pormal na mailuklok itong Senate president sa special session ngayong Miyerkoles.
Ipinaliwanag ng mga petitioner na may 12 senador lang ang dumalo sa June 3 session, malinaw na wala umanong quorum na isinasaad ng Konstitusyon para makapagpalit ng liderato ng Senado.
“There is no debate here. The Constitution requires that majority should be reckoned from all members. For the Senate, it is twenty-four (24). There are twenty-four (24) elected Senators. Majority, therefore, is thirteen (13). This is not just a quorum number, this is a threshold vote that must be attained to elect a Senate President,” giit ng Cayetano bloc.
Dahil sa kawalan ng quorum, iginiit nila na ang “respondents Senators cannot conduct the business of the Senate and do, as they did, during the rump session of June 3, 2026.”
Idinagdag pa nila na ang “Constitution does not permit the lesser number to reduce the basis of a quorum, but instead empowers them to compel attendance of absent Members.”
Dahil dito, naniniwala ang grupo na si Cayetano pa rin ang Senate President at si Senador Loren Legarda ang Senate president pro tempore.
“Even with petitioner Senator Alan Cayetano’s absence, the Rules of the Senate provided a procedure. Section 6, Rule IV of the 44 Rules of the Senate mandates a succession of officers who can discharge the duties of the Senate President. In the case of a temporary absence of the Senate President, it is the Senate President Pro Tempore who shall assume the functions. In this case, it is petitioner Senator Legarda. In her temporary absence, it is the Majority Leader, then any of the two (2) Deputy Majority Leaders, or any member designated by the Senate President,” giit nila sa petisyon.
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Binatikos ng pitong civil society, business at election watchdog groups ang House Bill No. 8389, na tinawag nilang “pro-dynasty bill” dahil taliwas anila ito sa utos ng 1987 Constitution na buwagin ang political dynasties.
Ayon sa mga grupo, hindi tunay na reporma ang lumusot na panukala sa third and final reading sa Kamara de Representantes. Anila, lalo lang nito palalakasin ang kapit ng mga political family sa puwesto.
“Instead of fulfilling the mandate of our 1987 Constitution to dismantle political dynasties, it does the exact opposite: it institutionalizes the entrenched control of political families,” sabi nila.
Paliwanag pa nila, lilimitahan lamang ng HB 8389 ang pagbabawal sa mga kamag-anak hanggang second degree of consanguinity or affinity at sa loob lang ng parehong political unit. Dahil dito, mananatili umano ang malalaking butas na puwedeng lusutan ng mga angkan sa politika. (Eileen Mencias)