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Renalyn Ramirez - Philstar.com
June 2, 2026 | 5:36pm
Combination photo shows Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta.
Senate of the Philippines via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ping Lacson hit back at Sen. Rodante Marcoleta after the latter lashed out at the minority bloc for not showing any reaction to the events that transpired in the Senate on June 1.
“So, kasalanan pa ng minority bloc na hindi nag-protesta dahil sinigawan ang Senate president natin? Actually, laking pasasalamat nga namin na hindi siya binigwasan ni Sec. Jonvic dahil sa inasal niya kahapon. Damn your damdamin,” Lacson said in a status posted on X on Tuesday, June 2.
(So, is it the minority’s fault that we did not protest when our Senate President was yelled at? Actually, we are thankful that Sec. Jonvic did not punch him because of his attitude. Damn your feelings.)
This came as a response to Marcoleta’s remark during an interview with dzBB on Tuesday morning, where he said the minority bloc did not even “protest” when the Senate president had a heated argument with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief Jonvic Remulla during Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s arrest on Monday.
“Bakit ganito ang pagtrato nila sa amin? Minaliit kami masyado. Pagkatapos sila, wala man lang pinakita na protesta, halimbawa, ‘huwag mo naman sisigawan ang Senate president’,” Marcoleta said.
(Why are they treating us like this? They belittled us. Then they [minority bloc senators] did not even show any protest, like, ‘don’t yell at our Senate president.’)
Marcoleta also pointed out that the minority senators did not show support for Estrada.
“Hindi nila inalala ang kalagayan ng Senado lalong-lalo na nung kukunin na nila si Senator Jinggoy. Nakita niyo ba kung meron man isa sa kanila ang nagpakita na kahit na pabalat-bunga lang nagbigay ng lakas ng loob sa isa sa kasama namin?” Marcoleta said.
(They did not think about the condition of the Senate, especially when they [the authorities] were arresting [Sen.] Jinggoy. Did you see if any of them even showed, even just as a token gesture, support for one of our colleagues?)
The Senate was in chaos again on Monday after the Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant of arrest against Estrada for the non-bailable plunder case.
While leaving the Senate premises, some members of the majority bloc, including Cayetano, accompanied Estrada.
Cayetano and Remulla later clashed after the former blocked Estrada’s arrest inside the Senate premises, saying the institution is a co-equal branch of government that enjoys immunity.
Remulla, however, replied that the Senate lost that privilege after the escape of Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, who is currently in hiding from authorities due to an existing warrant of arrest.
The majority senators did not show up for the Senate session on Monday after the arrest. As of 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, the majority bloc again did not attend the session again.
