Pimentel to Cayetano: ‘Step back, give it up’
Former Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Sunday suggested that Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano consider stepping down if he could no longer unite the chamber, warning that the deepening rift among senators was already affecting the institution’s ability to perform its constitutional duties, including the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Speaking over dzBB, Pimentel said the Senate needed a “better unifier” amid the escalating dispute between the majority and minority over a proposed amendment to the chamber’s rules that would allow senators to participate and vote remotely during plenary sessions.
“You volunteered to be the leader of the chamber, but then your chamber has not been able to achieve anything because of all these bickerings,” Pimentel said. “Maybe you realize, ‘I’m not meant for this. I have to step back and give it up for the good of the chamber and not for my own good,’” he said.
But Pimentel, who served as Senate President during the administration of Rodrigo Duterte, stopped short of directly calling for Cayetano’s resignation, saying the decision should come from the Senate leader himself.
“If he does not want to and he thinks senators are still happy despite achieving nothing because they are always fighting, then that will just continue,” he said.
“But there are [senators] who think differently. They are concerned not only about themselves but about the institution. Some may eventually say, ‘Let’s just find a better unifier,’” he added.
The Inquirer reached out to Cayetano for comment on Pimentel’s remarks but had yet to receive a response as of press time.
But in a statement on Sunday, he rejected claims that the proposed rule changes were connected to Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Cayetano said the Senate had already adopted its impeachment rules when it convened as an impeachment court on May 18 and stressed that no changes to those rules were being considered.
‘Deeply Divided’
Pimentel described the current Senate as “deeply divided,” saying the chamber’s deteriorating working relationships could undermine its legislative agenda and complicate its role as an impeachment court when it tries Duterte beginning July 6.
“Maybe some of the senators are also asking themselves, soul-searching, ‘Do I want to be part of an institution that, when you look back at history, nothing was accomplished, nothing happened?’ People will say that all these senators did was to fight,” he said.
“Although the Senate will assume a different function during the impeachment, these are the same group of people,” he added. “If there is no unity in their capacity as lawmakers, how can we say that they will be able to get along when they come to the Senate impeachment court?”
He said relations among members of the upper chamber had worsened significantly. “Even though I was with the minority back then, I could have coffee with them. But now, from what I hear, they are no longer speaking to one another,” said Pimentel, who served as minority leader alongside Sen. Risa Hontiveros during the 19th Congress.
The dispute intensified ahead of Monday’s scheduled vote on a proposal backed by the 13-member majority bloc to amend Senate rules and allow senators, “for justifiable reason[s],” to attend and participate in sessions through teleconferencing, videoconferencing or other electronic means.
The 11-member minority bloc, led by Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, has strongly opposed the move, arguing that the proposal should first be referred to the Senate committee on rules before being debated in plenary.
Abandon rule changes
Pimentel said the majority should abandon efforts to amend the rules, arguing that existing provisions already permit remote participation under extraordinary circumstances such as a national emergency or force majeure event.
“The rules are already there and they are good,” he said. “But the majority wants to make videoconferencing even easier. It cannot be justified.”
He warned that insisting on the proposal despite strong opposition would only deepen divisions.
“If you continue to insist on amending it, again you’re not being a great unifier because you are only pushing controversial issues,” he said.
‘Leeway’ to senators
Constitutional law expert Paolo Tamase, associate dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, also urged senators to resolve their differences internally and avoid drawing the judiciary into the dispute.
While acknowledging that courts or detention authorities would likely have to approve any request by a detained senator to participate remotely, Tamase said the Senate should not allow the courts to dictate its internal rules.
“It would not be appropriate if it appeared that the Supreme Court had to babysit the Senate by telling them which rules to adopt,” Tamase said in a separate dzBB interview.
He warned that granting senators privileges not available to ordinary detainees could damage public trust in the institution.
“We have to find the logic on why we seem to be giving senators a wider leeway to allow them to vote via video conferencing,” he said. “What would be the public’s perception if a privilege were granted to several of their colleagues that is not enjoyed by the majority of people?”
Tamase cited a 2020 ruling by a Muntinlupa court that denied former senator Leila de Lima’s request to participate in Senate sessions through teleconferencing while in detention.
The legal expert also appealed to senators to preserve the Senate’s reputation as the “last bastion of democracy” by placing institutional interests above personal grievances.
“It has seemed more about the hurt feelings of particular senators,” he said. “Things have become too personal. The Senate’s perspective has become too inward-looking. They should think about the nation first.” —WITH REPORTS FROM DEXTER CABALZA AND KENNETH CHRISTIANE BASILIO
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