Monday showdown: Will Cayetano stay as Senate chief?

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate is facing a critical question on Monday: Will there be another leadership change or will the chamber convene directly as an impeachment court that will try Vice President Sara Duterte?

The uncertainty comes amid reports of an alleged ouster plot, which Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano himself raised last Thursday, just four days after his allies stole the leadership from Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III through a 13-9-2 vote.

READ: Alan Cayetano bares alleged coup plot against him

“There’s an invitation to talk. There’s intimidation, but they were already scared anyway,” Cayetano said in a press conference. 

Cayetano’s ascension to the Senate presidency on  May 11 was  backed by 13 senators, including his predecessor, Sotto. and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who resurfaced after a six-month  long absence from the chamber.  

Dela Rosa’s dramatic entrance was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV), which showed him running away from agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) armed with a warrant of arrest issued by the International  Criminal Court (ICC). 

The arrest order stemmed from the crimes against humanity case filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte before the ICC, in which dela Rosa was tagged as co-perpetrator being the chief implementor of the bloody drug  war during his stint as police chief.

With dela Rosa in the Senate, Sotto lost its leadership to Cayetano with a vote of  13-9-2.  Under the new leadership, the chamber placed dela Rosa under its protective custody.

READ: Alan Cayetano is now Senate president

On the same day of the leadership change, the House of Representatives voted 257-25-9 to impeach Duterte and transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate.

The House transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate,  also around the same time that the gunfire incident erupted on Wednesday night, reportedly involving NBI agents and personnel of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms (Osaa).

Acting Osaa Mao Aplasca later admitted that he was the first to fire his gun at an NBI operative later identified only as “Agent Francisco,” which prompted the latter to return fire.

“OSAA eventually discharged 27 rounds of 9mm and 40 sw [.40-caliber S&W] ammunition.  Francisco discharged 5 rounds.  He immediately fled the scene after,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in a text message to Cayetano on Thursday, May 14.

Just hours after the shooting, dela Rosa reportedly left the Senate with Sen. Robin Padilla, which Cayetano confirmed in a press briefing on May 14, citing a report from Osaa.

Amid the political and security tensions, Cayetano announced the chamber would convene as an impeachment court at 3:00 p.m. this Monday, May 18. He issued a formal notice on May 15, a copy of it was released to the media on Saturday.He instructed all senator-judges to wear judicial robes in accordance with Senate impeachment rules.

READ: Cayetano to senators: We’ll convene as impeach court Monday, wear robes

“You are accordingly requested to be present at the Session Hall on the said date and time,” he said in the letter.

“In observance of the solemnity of the proceedings and pursuant to the Senate’s Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, all Senators-Judges are enjoined to wear their robes upon the convening of the Impeachment Court. Your presence and cooperation are essential to the proper and orderly conduct of these proceedings,”  the Senate chief added. 

However, it remains unclear whether the chamber will first resume regular plenary sessions or proceed directly to the impeachment court at the scheduled time.

Either wary, the new minority in the Senate would  question any violation of its rules or the rules on impeachment, according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

“The minority is poised to question any act in violation of the rules of the Senate as well as the rules on impeachment,” Lacson said in a Viber message on Monday.

Those perceived part of the minority  group are Sotto, Lacson, Sens. Risa Hontiveros, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Sherwin Gatchalian,  Lito Lapid, and Sens. Raffy and Erwin Tulfo.

Sens.  Juan Miguel Zubiri and JV  Ejercito consider themselves independent as they both abstained from voting in the Senate presidency race./dp