“This is not Senate independence, but boycott of duty.”
That is how the minority bloc, who refer to themselves as the Solid Bloc 11, described the events on Monday, June 1, at the Senate.
Supposedly, a plenary session was supposed to happen at 5:00 pm, but the majority bloc did not appear following the arrest of their member Senator Jinggoy Estrada over his plunder charge.
“The Solid Bloc 11 minority senators were present today for the 5 p.m. resumption of session, ready to work, ready to vote on pending bills and ready to keep the Senate running, but the majority led by SP Cayetano chose not to show up,” the group said.
They also said that the majority “did not even have the courtesy to inform” them when they ignored the rules, and “could not extend the basic decency of telling the minority that they had no intention of convening.”
“Let us focus on the work, because the Senate has serious business before it, and if the majority wants to protest, deliver privilege speeches or defend its position, the proper place to do that is on the floor, not by making the chamber stand still,” they added.
The SB-11 senators also said that the Senate is not the place where only one person holds the gavel, as it it is an “institution” for the people and there were a lot of pending bills that were not tackled over what they called the “drama” of the majority.
“Important measures were left hanging because of the majority’s boycott, including the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, the Anti-Hospital Detention Bill, the confirmation of generals before the Commission on Appointments and the bills granting Philippine citizenship to Bennie Boatwright III and Matthew James Ramos,” they specified.
They also said that the incident should be called for what it is, which they told: “the claim that this is about Senate independence is false, because what happened today was about the rule of law, public accountability and a lawful process before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan that no senator, no bloc and no presiding officer controls.“
They also called it 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.“
“Today was a step toward accountability in a controversy that the public has long demanded action on, and after years of people asking why nothing was happening in flood control investigations, it is unacceptable to suddenly call the rule of law an attack on the Senate,” the minority bloc added.
They then asked whether Senate President Alan Cayetano is questioning the rule of law, as the current leader of the house asked in another statement the minority to “join one deliberate act” by letting the Senate go quiet in light of Monday’s events.
“Sa totoo lang, ang gusto nila ay kampihan, hindi prinsipyo,” the SB-11 responded to his call. “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.”
“This may be the first time in decades that Senate work stopped because the presiding officer himself refused to work, because even during typhoons and the height of the pandemic, work was suspended only because of necessity or because systems still had to be set up, not because the leadership chose a boycott of duty,” added the bloc.
For them, the public now “has every right to ask whether SP Cayetano is repeating what he did in the House of Representatives,” the minority said.
Specifically when “questions were raised about a leader refusing to step aside, refusing to convene and holding up proceedings when the numbers were no longer certain.“
The Solid Bloc 11 continued, “The question now is just as serious: will they do this again for the next two session days, and will they keep the Senate idle simply to avoid facing the numbers on the floor?“
“The Senate should open its doors, call the session to order and return to work, because no Facebook post, no appeal to institutional pride and no political drama can erase the basic duty of senators to show up, follow the law and serve the people,” added the group of senators.
“And lastly, we call on the Filipino people to watch the Senate closely, because when an institution refuses to work, public vigilance becomes the people’s first line of defense.“
Their statement comes hours after Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano issued the following statement on his Facebook page.
“To my colleagues in the Minority, [t]he 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,” he said.
“That we differ on the leadership of the Senate is not in question. And it is a fair point of discussion. But no matter our disagreements, we must all agree that it is the Senate’s own business to settle. This chamber answers to GOD and the people who sent us here, and to no one outside these walls.
“That line is now being tested. This is not an accusation. I am speaking truth that each senator already knows — the independence of this institution, and the legal standing of any of its members, are not currencies. The day they become things to be traded, is the day that the Senate is diminished. And after the Senate, the Republic.
“So I put one question to you, not as the majority but as the chamber: will you stand for the Senate’s independence?
“I am asking you to join one deliberate act — to let the Senate go quiet, together and by choice, so the country is made to ask why a co-equal branch would fall silent rather than be made to serve.
“The door is open. What you do with it is yours to answer — to this institution, and to the people watching it.