MANILA, Philippines – The Senate majority bloc again skipped the plenary session on Tuesday, June 2, in a bid to retain control of the Senate blue ribbon committee and other panels amid an escalating power struggle in the chamber.
Instead of attending the session, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano went live on Facebook at 3:19 pm, where he defended the majority’s absence as a form of protest against what he described as a “puppet Senate.”
“Ang majority, ginagamit din po ang rules sa tama, morally, legally, to ensure na hindi agawin ang mga committees para po matuloy ang hearing ng blue ribbon sa Thursday at ang iba’t iba pang mga importanteng hearings sa bawat committee,” Cayetano said.
(The majority is also using the rules properly, morally, legally, to ensure that the committees are not taken over, so that the blue ribbon hearing on Thursday and the various other important hearings of each committee can proceed.)
Only the 11-member minority bloc was present in the plenary. Without a quorum — or at least 13 senators physically present — the Senate could not conduct business.
