Gatchalian elected Senate president pro tempore

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian was elected Senate president pro tempore, replacing Sen. Loren Legarda.

He presided over the session on Wednesday, two days after no plenary session was held.

Twelve senators, including Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, an ally of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, provided the quorum.

This is amid the detention of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and the hiding of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa from an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.

When Escudero arrived, completing the 12 needed senators to oust all Senate leadership positions but the presidency, Gatchalian presided over the session as agreed upon by those present.

Sen. Tito Sotto III moved to declare all seats vacant, and no senator objected.

This was followed by a nomination, also by Sotto, to seat Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore, replacing Legarda.

None of the 12 senators made an objection, and Gatchalian was thereby elected.

READ: Senate finally convenes amid alleged Cayetano-led group’s boycott

With no objection, Gatchalian was seated.

In a speech, Gatchalian defended the 12-man quorum, citing a Supreme Court ruling. 

“The quorum of 12 is based on a majority of 22 senators over whom jurisdiction can be obtained by the Senate. This is in full accord with the ruling of the Court in Avelino versus Cuenco, that an absolute majority of 12 out of 23 members can constitute a constitutional majority of the Senate for quorum purposes,” he explained.

“With precedent, specifically the May 5, 2015 session where the quorum was based on 17 available senators, with seven others beyond the Senate’s coercive jurisdiction,” he added.

Gatchalian further pointed out the risk that the Senate would have violated the 1987 Constitution had the chamber not convened on Wednesday.

He was referring to a provision in the Constitution that states that both chambers of Congress are prohibited from adjourning for more than three days without the consent of the other chamber.

“The Chair would like to state for the record that we were compelled to call the session to order today. After the Senate adjourned on May 26, 2026, the session was scheduled to resume on Monday, June 1, 2026, and on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, but the Senate president failed to appear in both instances,” he said.

“The Senate has been adjourned and unable to resume session for the past two days, placing us on the brink of a Constitutional violation had we not convened today,” he added.

With the senate presidency vacant, Gatchalian may preside over the sessions. He was also declared in the session as “acting Senate president.” 

No Senate president was seated as the Constitution requires 13 votes for the election of the position.

Following the shake-up, a new majority was formed consisting of Gatchalian, Sens. Escudero, Migz Zubiri, Bam Aquino, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, Lito Lapid, Panfilo Lacson, Vicente Sotto III.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri then returned to the position of majority leader.

This is a developing story. /mcm