Gatchalian acting Senate prez as Escudero ends deadlock

‘COMEBACK’ SESSION Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian presides as acting Senate president over a plenary session still missing practically half of the chamber’s members—excluding one who’s back in hiding and another now in jail. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — A surprise appearance by Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Wednesday broke a three-day deadlock in the Senate, allowing the minority bloc led by former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III to reclaim key leadership posts, reorganize the chamber, and bring an end—at least temporarily—to a paralysis that had threatened to push the institution into a constitutional crisis.

With Escudero joining the so-called Solid Bloc-11 during the Senate’s final session before sine die adjournment, the chamber achieved a quorum of 12 senators, enabling proceedings to resume after two consecutive days without session due to the absence of members of the Alan Peter Cayetano-led majority.

As soon as a quorum was established, Sotto promptly moved to declare all positions in the chamber vacant, and subsequently nominated Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian for election to the chamber’s second-highest post.

READ: Senate finally convened: Why and how?

The reconstituted body immediately elected Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore and designated him also as acting Senate President, while Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri was elected majority leader. Sotto, the longest-serving senator in Philippine history, administered Gatchalian’s oath.

“Sen. Win Gatchalian has not yet been elected as the new Senate President because 13 votes are still needed under the Constitution. But what is clear and important now is that all positions are vacant, the previous leadership is over, and the Senate must continue its work for the people,” the erstwhile minority bloc, who now call themselves “Solid Bloc 12,” said in a joint statement.

READ: New Senate committee chairpersons named amid shake-up

The chamber also reinstalled Rey Bantug Jr. as Senate secretary, while Police Maj. Gen. Alfredo Sotto Corpus was named sergeant-at-arms, and reorganized committee leaderships across several major panels.

Among those elected were Sen. JV Ejercito as chair of the finance committee, Sotto for national defense, Sen. Panfilo Lacson for public order and accounts, Sen. Erwin Tulfo for accountability of public officers (blue ribbon) and social welfare and rural development, Sen. Raffy Tulfo for public services, Sen. Bam Aquino for basic education, Sen. Francis Pangilinan for agriculture, Sen. Risa Hontiveros for health, Sen. Lito Lapid for games and amusements, Escudero for housing, and Zubiri for foreign relations and rules.

Sine die adjournment

Less than 15 minutes after the session began, Gatchalian declared the first regular session of the 20th Congress adjourned sine die.

“We now have a functioning Senate. We convened already. We reorganized already. We elected our officers, so we’re back to work,” Gatchalian told reporters after the session.

“We just want to work. We cannot go on like this for the rest of our lives. There are so many pending legislations. We need to work,” he added.

The Senate will convene again on July 27 for its second regular session, when President Marcos delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address.

The dramatic reorganization came barely three weeks after the Cayetano-led bloc wrested control of the chamber from the Sotto group on May 11.

Quorum dispute

To justify the legality of Wednesday’s proceedings, Gatchalian invoked the Supreme Court’s ruling in Avelino v. Cuenco, arguing that quorum should be determined based on senators who are available and subject to the chamber’s jurisdiction rather than the total number of Senate seats.

According to Gatchalian, the Senate effectively has only 22 members over whom jurisdiction may currently be exercised. Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa remains beyond the Senate’s coercive reach while reportedly evading an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, while Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has been detained following his arrest on plunder and graft charges last Monday.

Under that interpretation, the presence of 12 senators constituted a valid quorum sufficient to transact business and reorganize the chamber.

“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,” Gatchalian said during the session.

He also cited a 2015 Senate precedent in which quorum was determined based on the number of senators available to participate.

Gatchalian said the minority bloc felt compelled to convene after the Senate failed to meet on Monday and Tuesday despite having been scheduled to resume session.

“Article VI, Section 16(5) of the Constitution provides that neither House shall, during sessions of Congress, adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other House,” 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.”

Escudero’s arrival proved decisive.

A member of the Cayetano-led majority, Escudero entered the plenary hall to applause from spectators in the gallery and was greeted warmly by members of the minority bloc.

In a statement, Escudero rejected suggestions that he had switched political allegiance.

“The current impasse in the Senate is untenable and unacceptable,” he said.

“When political divisions become too extreme and obstruct our mandate, we must all have the courage to pause, gain perspective and realize that we should put the Senate, as the institution that we serve, above ourselves.”

“This is not a political contest. I am not taking sides. I am taking a stand for the Senate,” he added.

Escudero said the prolonged deadlock had begun affecting the institution’s ability to perform its constitutional duties.

In a joint statement, SB-12 expressed “deep appreciation” and commended Escudero’s “courageous” decision to take the floor and confront the issues facing the institution.

“His action sent a clear message: that his commitment to the country, to the Senate, and to the Constitution would prevail above all else,” the group said.

“His presence enabled the Senate to proceed with the discussion of matters that are too important to be left unresolved and too consequential to be set aside,” it added.

Palace backs reorg

Malacañang immediately welcomed the Senate reorganization, expressing hope that it would finally end the paralysis that had gripped the chamber for days.

“What happened in the Senate this afternoon is in accordance with the law and the rule of law,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said.

“The Palace recognizes and respects the decision of the new majority and the leadership of acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian,” she added.

The Palace reaction came hours after President Marcos publicly urged senators to “get back to work,” warning that the Senate’s inability to hold sessions had disrupted essential legislative functions and hampered government efforts to respond to urgent economic and national issues.

Mr. Marcos earlier said the administration was studying all legal and constitutional options to address the impasse but emphasized that resolving the deadlock ultimately depended on the cooperation and commitment of Senate leaders themselves.

“I’m afraid all these events that we have been witnessing have thrown the whole Senate into disarray,” Mr. Marcos said. “It has discredited the leadership and it has stopped the essential business of legislation and government.”

The crisis began after Estrada’s arrest reduced the numerical advantage of the Cayetano-led majority. The resulting 11-11 split between the two factions effectively prevented either side from securing a quorum on its own.

The deadlock intensified after minority senators accused Cayetano of refusing to convene the Senate and called for his resignation.

‘Illegal coup’

Several minutes after the session was adjourned, Cayetano took to social media, rejecting the legitimacy of the reorganization.

“I am still the legitimate, legal, moral Senate President,” he said in a Facebook livestream.

Calling the move an “illegal coup,” Cayetano argued that the minority bloc had trampled on constitutional processes and insisted that he remained the rightful leader of the chamber.

He also alleged that the leadership shake-up was intended to derail a scheduled blue ribbon committee hearing set for Thursday.

“Do the 12 senators think that just because Malacañang is on their side means there are no more laws? If you look at Rules 1 and 2 of the Senate, which are based on the Philippine Constitution, you need 13 [votes to elect the Senate President and Senate President Pro Tempore]. So, how can they remove Senator Loren Legarda if there are only 12 of them?” he said.

The conflicting claims suggest that while Wednesday’s proceedings ended the immediate paralysis, they may not have resolved the underlying power struggle.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo said that due to the course of events leading to the formation of the new Senate majority, the Senate presidency was deemed vacant.

Lacson agreed, saying that Cayetano is no longer the Senate President.

“With 12 senators present, a quorum was declared out of the base number of 22 since De la Rosa and Estrada are outside the ‘coercive power” of the Senate (Avelino v. Cuenco, GR No 2821),” he pointed out.

“Hence, we voted to declare all positions vacant, although we could not yet elect a new SP because we lacked the 13 votes required under the Constitution,” he explained.

Tulfo, who has been designated chair of the blue ribbon committee of the new majority bloc, expressed hope that some senators from Cayetano’s camp would eventually switch sides and join their group.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bam Aquino, in a post on social media, thanked Escudero for his courage and love for the Senate and the country.

“Back to work, for the nation,” he added. —WITH REPORTS FROM ISABELLE PECHAY, GABRIEL PABICO LALU, DEXTER CABALZA, AND KEITH CLORES