Monday (June 1) and Tuesday (June 2) this week, the senators aligned with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano abandoned their sworn duty to the Filipino people.
The 11 senators in the Minority bloc issued the following statement in June 2 calling for the resignation of Cayetano:
What happened today was a clear abandonment of responsibility, a dereliction of duty, and a blatant disregard of the rules that govern this institution, because the Senate cannot be made to stop working simply because its presiding officer refuses to lead.
Under Rule XIV, Sec. 41 of the Rules of the Senate, the Senate President may postpone the holding of the session AFTER consultation with the Majority Leader AND the Minority Leader. That rule was violated. This is not merely a procedural lapse—it is a direct violation of the Rules of the Senate and a serious disrespect for the institution and the Filipino people.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano SHOULD RESIGN as he has shown that he cannot function as the leader of the Senate.
The 11 Minority senators are: All 11 minority senators , Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson,Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sherwin Gatchalian, Kiko Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, JV Ejercito, Lito Lapid, Raffy Tulfo, and Erwin Tulfo.
Cayetano’ s takeover of the Senate presidency from Sotto came at the time when the Impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte was about to begin after the House of Representatives impeached her on May 11 on charges of misuse of P125 million confidential funds and P7 billion in unliquidated cash advances and submitting questionable liquidation documents when she was education secretary, and threatening to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House speaker Martin Romualdez.
Cayetano’s was able to ascend to the Senate presidency with the controversial presence of fugitive senator Ronald de la Rosa who has a pending warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court for the charge of crimes against humanity for his role as implementor of Duterte’s bloody war on drugs. De la Rosa is now back in hiding.
Even in his absence at the plenary session, the meanness of Cayetano is palpable. His ultimate goal is obvious: Save Sara Duterte from conviction even if that meant destroying the institution of the Senate and the country.
