Palace: No constitutional crisis, Gatchalian is sole Senate leader

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang shut down concerns on Tuesday of a constitutional crisis amid Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s repeated insistence of still being Senate president, saying the executive branch only recognized Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian as leader of the chamber.

According to Palace press officer Claire Castro, Malacañang sees no constitutional crisis as it acknowledges Gatchalian as the current leader of the upper chamber.

READ: Gatchalian: Power-sharing deal in Senate not possible

“In the eyes of Malacañang, in the eyes of the executive, we have nothing that can be called a constitutional crisis,” she said.

“It is clear that the leadership we support and recognize is the leadership of acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian,” Castro added.

At a radio interview earlier, Gatchalian dismissed a possible power-sharing deal with Cayetano amid the ongoing gridlock in the Senate. 

“In the June 3 session, it was clear who was elected Senate president pro tempore and who was designated as acting Senate president,” Gatchalian said in an interview over dzRH.

“So it was clear, there who were designated and elected. And that is us — just one. That is why power-sharing is not possible because only one person was elected,” he added.

READ: Cayetano announces Senate work schedule, asserts presidency

But this was not the case for Cayetano, as he, also on Tuesday, issued an advisory detailing the work schedule for Senate employees ahead of Independence Day on June 12.

His advisory bore the “Office of the Senate President” designation.

Since the change in Senate leadership on June 3, Cayetano has continuously assumed his role as Senate president. He and his allies have also tagged Gatchalian’s leadership as “illegitimate.” /das /atm