Senate minority: Key bills stalled after majority skips session

MANILA – The 11-member Senate minority bloc on Monday night said several key measures were stalled after the majority bloc led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano failed to attend the 5 p.m. resumption of session following the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

In a joint statement, the minority senators said they were present and ready to work, vote on pending bills, and keep the Senate running, but the majority “chose not to show up.”

The bloc said measures left hanging included the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, the Anti-Hospital Detention Bill, the confirmation of generals before the Commission on Appointments, and bills granting Philippine citizenship to Bennie Boatwright III and Matthew James Ramos.

“Ang Senado ay hindi pag-aari ng iisang may hawak ng gavel. Institusyon ito ng taumbayan at napakadaming mahalagang panukala ang nabibinbin dahil sa drama ng mayorya (The Senate does not belong to one person holding the gavel. It is an institution of the people, and many important measures are being delayed because of the majority’s drama),” the minority said.

The bloc rejected Cayetano’s call for the Senate to go “quiet” as a stand for institutional independence, saying the chamber should not stop work because of a lawful process before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan.

They said the non-convening of the session was a boycott over Estrada’s arrest, not a defense of Senate independence.

“This is a boycott because of the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and the public should not be asked to believe another convenient line from a leadership that has repeatedly twisted the truth,” the minority said.

The minority said the proper place for the majority to protest, deliver privilege speeches or defend its position is on the Senate floor, not through inaction that keeps the chamber idle.

“Sa totoo lang, ang gusto nila ay kampihan, hindi prinsipyo. Gusto nila sumama kami sa boycott, patahimikin ang Senado at gamitin ang minority para manatili ang Senate President sa puwesto habang iniiwasan ang tunay na test of numbers sa floor (The truth is, what they want is loyalty, not principle. They want us to join the boycott, silence the Senate and use the minority so the Senate President can stay in his post while avoiding the real test of numbers on the floor),” the statement read.

Cayetano challenged the minority to stand for the Senate’s independence following the issuance of an arrest warrant against Estrada in a plunder case linked to alleged flood control anomalies.

In a Facebook post, Cayetano said the Senate is a co-equal branch of government and should settle its own business without outside pressure.

“To my colleagues in the Minority: The Senate is a co-equal branch of government. It is not a prize to be claimed by anyone. Events of the past few days may have blurred this distinction, but what happened with one of our colleagues today brings it sharply back into focus,” Cayetano said.

He asked the minority to join the majority in allowing the chamber to fall silent “so the country is made to ask why a co-equal branch would fall silent rather than be made to serve.”

The minority, however, urged the Senate to open its doors, call the session to order, and return to work, saying no political dispute can erase the duty of senators to show up, follow the law, and serve the people.

— Wilnard Bacelonia (PNA)