What we have in the Philippine Senate now are two factions, with one faction supporting Win Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore and another faction supporting Allan Peter Cayetano as Senate president.
Cayetano was elected as Senate president by 13 members of the 24-member Senate, with Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa surfacing momentarily to vote before going back into hiding. Which means that of the 13 who voted for Cayetano, only 12 are functional, making Cayetano’s majority a shaky one. Bato has a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court or ICC for crimes against humanity, the same case that has allowed the ICC to detain Bato’s boss, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at The Hague in The Netherlands.
Because of his shaky position, Cayetano has refused to preside over Senate sessions, with the rest of the “ majority” senators also refusing to attend the sessions. But the balance shifted when Sen. Francis Escudero, who was with the “majority,” decided to transfer to the minority, expanding the 11-member minority to 12 and reducing the former majority senators to 11 (with Bato in hiding). Then a case for plunder was filed against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for which he was arrested. This further reduced the former “majority” that elected Cayetano as Senate president to only 10 senators.
With Bato in hiding and Jinggoy in detention, the “minority” faction supporting Win Gatchalian counted only 22 functional senators. And with Escudero expanding the former “minority” of 11 senators to 12, they now consider themselves as having the majority over the former “majority” who now has only 10 functional members. That allowed them to elect Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore and declare all the Senate committee chairmanships vacant including the position of Senate president.
Of course, Cayetano and his faction do not recognize Gatchalian. But since Gatchalian and his faction are now the majority, Cayetano’s claim to the throne has remained shaky. Add to this the fact that Malacabang and the House of Representatives recognize Gatchalian’s faction and not Cayetano’s faction.
In some instances, though, the faction that will be recognized by the Senate rank-and-file will prevail. No matter what a faction will do, if it will not be recorded, it won’t exist. That is why the recent hearing by the Cayetano faction of the Blue Ribbon Committee involving the 18 former soldiers could only be formalized if it was recorded. Without it, the hearing’s existence can be questioned.
The Supreme Court (SC), of course, can step in especially because this involves the constitutionality of the moves by either the Gatchalian or Cayetano factions. But the High Court cannot do it on its own. Some parties other than the SC should file a case in this regard. That is why there are those who are asking the Cayetano or whichever faction to go to the SC to finally resolve the issue. If not, there will be continued confusion on which Senate faction is legitimate.