By LYJAH TIFFANY BONZO, GMA News Published June 2, 2026 11:49pm + Add GMA on Google Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google. The Senate majority bloc on Tuesday explained its decision to skip the plenary session anew as a “lawful parliamentary tool” to protect ongoing Senate investigations and prevent changes in committee leaderships.“The recent arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada and the continuing absence of Senator Ronald 'Bato’ dela Rosa have created an unusual situation in which the balance of votes inside the Senate has shifted,” the majority bloc said in a statement.They added: “While these developments do not provide sufficient numbers to change the Senate leadership, they may allow changes in committee leadership through the votes of senators present during session.”On Tuesday, members of the Senate majority bloc did not attend the plenary session once more but initially did not provide a reason for doing so.In a statement later in the day, the majority senators said they are withholding a quorum to “protect ongoing Senate investigations” and ensure that probes of alleged corruption and misuse of public funds can continue once there is no longer political interference.They also alleged that efforts toward gaining control of “key committees” are now being made, after the minority failed to reclaim the Senate leadership. On Monday after the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada for plunder charges, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano asked the Senate minority bloc to join the majority in letting the upper chamber fall silent, adding that their independence is being challenged.On Tuesday, the Senate majority bloc also pointed to the “inconsistency” in the public’s reaction to parliamentary tactics, noting that the previous walkout by the Senate minority senators was “widely defended as legitimate expression of principle.”On the other hand, the majority senators’ decision to withhold a quorum is “now being portrayed as an abandonment of duty,” their statement said.They stressed that their decisions and actions are “not rooted in political advantage, but in the protection of the investigative work entrusted to the Senate on behalf of the Filipino people.”It may be recalled that on Tuesday, the minority bloc called on Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to resign over the majority bloc’s continued absence in the plenary sessions.In response to the minority senators’ call for him to quit his post, Cayetano said his colleagues in the minority bloc are still welcome to be part of the committees in the upper chamber. — JMA, GMA News