Senate leadership row entering new phase
With heightened tension and mounting confusion, the Senate seemed to have turned into a battleground between two rival blocs which have extended beyond the traditional majority-minority divide: one side led by acting Senate Pro Tempore Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, the acting Senate President, and the other by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, whom he ousted.
What unfolded on Thursday marked the first day after a 12-10 shift in favor of Gatchalian’s bloc that allowed it to seize the Senate leadership the day before, while Cayetano continues to release his grasp of the Senate presidency.
Immediate confusion resulted from the changes since Wednesday evening as the new majority decided to reschedule the blue ribbon committee hearing on the flood control scandal originally set for June 4. Gatchalian authorized Senate employees to work-from-home.
Cayetano’s bloc, however, was determined to push through with the hearing, which was his original plan.
Early tensions
Tension was palpable on Thursday morning at the Senate premises, as Gatchalian began his day with a press conference where he announced that that there would be no official Senate business, meaning no hearings, no sessions scheduled.
Cayetano’s bloc, however, pressed ahead. Even as Gatchalian was still holding his briefing, the Senate staff inside the plenary hall were setting up for the very hearing which the acting Senate president had said was already called off.
Instead of outrightly blocking the proceedings, however, Gatchalian opted a less confrontational stance—declaring that senators could enter the building freely, but “resource persons” would be denied entry into the building.
Cayetano and several of his senator-allies quickly tested the extent to which the new Senate leadership would keep this stand. They arrived one by one at the plenary hall.
But due to Gatchalian’s order to prohibit resource persons from entering the Senate, Senators Pia Cayetano and Robinhood Padilla had to personally lead their invited resource speakers into the hall, including the 18 supposed former Philippine Marines who had earlier spoken publicly about delivering hundreds of millions pesos packed in suitcases in alleged payoffs or kickbacks from flood control projects to various politicians.
On the way to the session hall, they encountered Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
What followed was caught on video: Remulla, appearing to say “sir,” was shoved by Padilla resulting in the former to retaliate. There was pushing and pulling.
As the altercation developed, the group was able to push past him. Pia Cayetano, who was replaced as chair of the blue ribbon panel by Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Wednesday, claimed that Remulla attempted to block them. She complained that it was the first time someone refused her entry into the Senate.
But Remulla denied this, explaining that he was alone and had no way of blocking both senators, their staff and the 18 “Marines” by himself.
Warning to employees
Before the proceedings officially began, Cayetano, issued a pointed warning to Senate employees: that anyone who blocks resource persons from entering could face criminal prosecution.
The 18 “Marines” claimed that lawmakers, including Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Erwin Tulfo, received money from the office of former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co.
In the middle of the hearing, however, Cayetano turned all attention to the National Bureau of Investigation after he read a breaking news report from the Inquirer which said that NBI director Melvin Matibag disclosed that they had received information that former congressman Mike Defensor bribed the “18 ex-Marines” for P5 million to testify.
Cayetano challenged Matibag to appear before the committee and present evidence against the resource persons.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian’s bloc issued a joint statement denouncing the proceedings as a “bogus” hearing and a “naked grab for power.”
The majority senators called on their colleagues to abandon the session and “respect the rules, the quorum, and the duly constituted leadership of the Senate.”
Gatchalian also authorized, through a separate advisory that on-site staff, can leave as early as 10:00 a.m., the time the hearing opened. This is in addition to the earlier work-from-home advisory.
The hearing ended essentially the same way it began—with no resolution whatsoever on who the main culprits or the masterminds are in the multi-billion flood control scandal.
Will step down if…
During a press conference after the hearing, Cayetano reaffirmed his claim to the Senate presidency. He said, however, that he would be glad to step down once the new majority have the 13 senators required to elect his replacement.
The Senate majority said their 12 members were enough to declare his seat vacant but the Constitution specifically requires 13 to elect a Senate president.
Cayetano expects the following weeks to produce more of the same—two rival versions of the Senate blue ribbon committee conducting parallel hearings.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who presided over the hearing, used the press conference to apologize to the journalists for calling them “paid hacks” during the hearing. He was roundly criticized not just by the Senate press corps but also by other media organizations.
