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MANILA, Philippines — Members of the 11-member minority bloc stormed out of the Senate plenary hall last night after Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano’s majority attempted to “railroad” an amendment to the chamber’s rules to allow members to attend sessions remotely – assailed as a way to allow Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and detained senators to participate in proceedings.
Led by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, 10 senators from the so-called Solid Bloc 11 or SB-11 left the plenary hall in the middle of debates on the proposed rule amendment.
Raising his voice against colleagues, Sen. Erwin Tulfo questioned the motive and method of the majority to approve the motion.
“Why are we in such a hurry, why are they the majority in a hurry to tackle this motion and divide the house? We need answers. Or is it because they’re in a hurry because of news reports that probably two of our colleagues might land in jail this weekend? Is that why?” Tulfo said, referencing Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, whom the ombudsman said could be facing plunder charges before the Sandiganbayan soon.
Gasps and groans erupted when Tulfo said this, forcing Sen. Jinggoy Estrada to stand from his seat smiling uncomfortably as he walked towards the desk of Sen. Bong Go, where he was met and comforted by majority colleague Sen. Robinhood Padilla, who rubbed his back.
Afterwards, Zubiri started rounding up his colleagues from the minority, yelling “let’s go! let’s go! We will not participate in this debate anymore!”
This was when Sens. Bam Aquino, Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, Sherwin Gatchalian, Panfilo Lacson, JV Ejercito and Erwin Tulfo walked out of the plenary.
Sens. Raffy Tulfo and Lito Lapid were no longer in the session hall at the time of the walkout, but Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III stayed to argue that the plenary no longer has a quorum and should therefore be adjourned.
After a few minutes of debates with Sens. Rodante Marcoleta and Alan Peter Cayetano, Legarda, who was presiding, adjourned the session.
The walkout was preceded by lengthy debates regarding the amendment to Senate Rules that seeks to allow senators to attend sessions remotely—a motion introduced on May 11–the day Dela Rosa apprared at the Senate for a leadership coup.
There were no debates at the time as there were no members of the minority during the plenary session when the motion was introduced by Marcoleta on the floor. Minority members were not in the plenary following the coup on Sotto.
However, members of the minority like Lacson and Hontiveros said they would question the motion if it is returned to the plenary for debates.
Before their walkout, minority senators questioned the majority senators’ push for Marcoleta’s move to amend the Senate rules “on justifiable reason” to allow any senator, like Dela Rosa, to participate and join sessions via video conferencing.
The heated debate started when Villanueva moved that the motion be put to a vote after the rules committee that he heads has reported it back to plenary.
The majority senators – aligned with Dela Rosa – is pushing to amend the rules allowing senators to attend sessions virtually for “justifiable reason” in addition to “force majeure,” which was put in place during the pandemic.
Lacson stood up and questioned this move, saying their own Senate rules state that a committee should hold meetings and make a report on the issue before reporting back to plenary.
The rules committee has also not been formally constituted yet following the leadership shakeup, Lacson noted, adding that the leadership seemed to be planning to “ram down our throats something that numbers can dictate.”
He correctly pointed out that when Marcoleta made the motion on May 11 – the day of Dela Rosa’s surprise appearance in the plenary session after six months in hiding – the new majority senators decided to refer Marcoleta’s motion to the rules committee before acting on it.
“Does it mean we are now disregarding the committees of the Senate, that the committee chairman may just report out any motion or any resolution referred to it in plenary, and just within his power, to just report it out by himself, without any deliberation, without any committee report? Is that the new rule now?” Lacson said.
Cayetano defends rule amendment
But Cayetano defended the move, citing another provision of the rules saying an amendment to the rules can be put to a vote already one day after.
“The plenary is more supreme over the committees,” Cayetano said, adding that any motion referred to plenary should be put to a vote.
The minority did not mince words in accusing Cayetano’s leadership of railroading the motion that would benefit their ally Dela Rosa.
“We will have to support Lacson’s thinking, which is we did not constitute the rules committee. So, what are we discussing right now? I suggest we constitute the rules and then discuss it there,” Sotto said.
“Ako, minority leader, di ako member ng rules as ex-officio? Tumawag ba ng meeting? Hindi. Ano ito, binabraso?” he added, irritated.
“Why are we railroading this process? I have a number of issues I’d like to raise. Who will benefit from the amendment of the rules? Is this rule for Senator Bato, who is not here? We would like to raise these valid questions before we go into a vote,” Pangilinan said.
Marcoleta vs Risa
When Hontiveros took the floor and seconded her colleagues’ position, the motion’s proponent Marcoleta could be heard saying over the microphone: “Ito ang mahirap pag walang legal background dito.”
Marcoleta launched the attack on Hontiveros to push his position that the Senate rules allowed their railroading tactics.
Tulfo pushed back against Marcoleta’s insult on Hontiveros, saying to the floor: “Ad hominem! Hindi pwedeng sasabihan niya yung kasama niya na walang alam sa batas.”
It was at this point Legarda suspended the session to let cooler heads prevail.
But during the break, Marcoleta and Hontiveros continued their heated debate, with Hontiveros trying her best to calm herself in front of a raging Marcoleta.
Hontiveros appealed: “Sir, pakinggan niyo naman ako,” before Marcoleta turned his back on her.
In a joint statement last night, the minority declared: “We strongly condemn what appears to be an attempt to rush a major change in the Senate Rules, especially when several members of the minority still wanted to speak and raise serious questions on the floor.”
“We walked out because what happened on the floor looked less like orderly deliberation. The proposed rule change affects how senators may attend sessions, participate in proceedings and exercise their mandate through remote means, and such a measure should be opened to healthy public debate instead of being rushed by the tyranny of the majority,” they added.
“We have always welcomed healthy discussions on the floor, but this should mean allowing all members to be heard, not forcing the chamber to move at the speed preferred by the majority,” they declared.
‘Focus on trial’
Senators should stop their dilly-dallying on pursuing the trial of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte, Rep. Jude Acidre (Tingog party-list) said yesterday.
“Our challenge to the Senate, and with all due respect to our friends in the Senate, is for them to focus their attention on the facts, on what will happen to the impeachment trial because that is what they should be resolving right now,” Acidre, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, said.
“So, whatever leadership crisis they may have, or whatever political crisis they have there, we can all put that in the right context once the basis of evidence has been laid out. They should not be sowing fears to Filipinos about conspiracy theories and what not,” he stressed.
“We’re quite frustrated, we’re quite disturbed in the Senate itself, it has become fashionable to accuse before you present proof,” he said, apparently referring to Sen. Imee Marcos’ virulent privilege speech wherein she accused colleagues in the minority – without presenting evidence – of trying to revive Charter change.
After being called out by minority senators for mouthing disinformation, Marcos agreed to strike out a video that accompanied her privilege speech.
Acidre stressed that accusations made in the legislative chamber should be based on evidence, not insinuation. “And part of that is to be truthful. Part of that is to make sure that when you make accusations, they’re grounded on evidence,” Acidre emphasized.
“Our politics, our personal preferences, even our own personal stance… are all subservient to the institution that we represent. That is perhaps the best reminder to us. We don’t own Congress. We’re just stewards of whatever power or responsibility there is,” he added.
The House leader said accountability applies to all lawmakers when the bounds of proper parliamentary conduct are crossed. “I think whether it’s Senator Imee or it’s Congressman Kiko Barzaga, I think all of us have to be accountable,” he pointed out.
Both senators and House members, Acidre maintained, should use the proper channels when they believe a boundary has been crossed.
“It behooves every individual member of Congress to make sure that when you stand there, the privilege comes with certain responsibility,” he said. — Delon Porcalla
