Voting 12-9, Senate ditches minority’s bid for joint session to tackle  martial law

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. (File photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Senate junked on Tuesday night the bid of the minority bloc for Congress to convene in a joint session to tackle President Duterte’s martial law declaration.

Voting 12-9, the Senate ditched Senate resolution no.390 which was filed by the six-member minority that sought to convene Congress in joint session on the martial law declaration.

The 12 who voted against the resolution were Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, as well as Senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Richard Gordon, Greg Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The nine who voted for the measure were Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon as well as Senators Bam Aquino, Francis Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Grace Poe and Antonio Trillanes IV.

Aquino told senators that Sen. Joel Villanueva, who was no longer in the Senate during the vote, would have vote for the resolution.