Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano Speaks on Senate Presidency amid Issues in Chamber
ALAN PETER CAYETANO – The Senator claimed that he wants to step down from being the Senate president but he has duty to the people.
The Senate is currently surrounded by several issues and there is undeniably a wide gap between the majority and the minority blocs in the chamber now. Currently, there are two (2) senators who claim that they are the Senate president.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano maintained that he is allegedly still the Senate president of the Republic of the Philippines. He claimed that the senators needed 13 votes to elect a new chief of the chamber.
During the Wednesday Senate session, the 12 senators who were present voted to declare all the positions in the chamber vacant. Afterwards, they elected Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as the Senate President Pro Tempore.
After the election of Gatchalian, Cayetano immediately insisted that he remains as the “legal” and “moral” Senate president of the Philippines. The now-minority bloc also pushed through the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing yesterday despite the recent change in committee chairmanships that the 12 senators decided during the Wednesday session. Here are the new committee chairmanships based on the Wednesday session:
- Finance:Â Sen. JV Ejercito
- National Defense and Security:Â Sen. Tito Sotto
- Public Order and Dangerous Drugs:Â Sen. Ping Lacson
- Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon Committee):Â Sen. Erwin Tulfo
- Public Services:Â Sen. Raffy Tulfo
- Basic Education:Â Sen. Bam Aquino
- Agriculture:Â Sen. Kiko Pangilinan
- Health and Demography:Â Sen. Risa Hontiveros
- Games and Amusement:Â Sen. Lito Lapid
- Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlements:Â Sen. Chiz Escudero
- Foreign Relations:Â Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri
On Thursday, senators Pia Cayetano and Robin Padilla led the entry of the 18 ex-marines to the Senate session hall. The lady Senator was running together with two (2) of the ex-marines in her shoulders as they entered the hall.
The former soldiers dragged the names of several majority senators. Their claims were surrounded by questions and speculations. Amid the issue in the Senate, based on Inquirer, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that he wants to step down from the Senate presidency.
“Gusto ko ng bumaba today as Senate President. Ang problema, I have duty to the Filipino people and to the Philippine Constitution,” Cayetano said based on the post.
Furthermore, he also claimed that he even wished that there were 13 senators during the Senate session on Thursday so there would be no longer an issue of quorum. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also spoke about the surprise attendance of Sen. Chiz Escudero to the Senate session.