(UPDATE) SENATE President Alan Peter Cayetano, who engineered a leadership change in the chamber just a week ago, appeared to be on shaky ground Monday, after two senators who had abstained in the May 11 vote that unseated Sen. Vicente Sotto III declared themselves as members of the minority bloc.
Sens. JV Ejercito and Juan Miguel Zubiri, who earlier declared themselves to be independent during the May 11 Senate coup, said they have joined the minority group.
In that vote, Cayetano secured 13 votes to unseat Sotto, who had nine votes. The addition of Ejercito and Zubiri to the new minority bloc brings their numbers to 11.
During Monday’s session, Zubiri sought the rostrum to say, “I would like to be associated with the minority bloc, Mr. President (Cayetano), if I may.” “They even denounced me. They said I resorted to fence-sitting when I abstained. I abstained so that I have a free hand to vote on which issue that I think is important for the Filipino people,” Zubiri said in Filipino and English.
“But when it comes to the reorganization, I would like to associate myself with the minority,” Zubiri added.
Ejercito thanked Cayetano for the trust and honor that he offered to him when he asked him to become the majority leader. “But as I have mentioned to you personally, as of this time, I would rather maintain my independence.” “Being a majority leader, of course, it’s a very — it’s one of the most powerful... positions in the Senate — but I guess at this point, I would like to maintain my independence,” he said.
Cayetano then asked Ejercito: “So, for the purposes of today, to the future, and unless a change is made, will you be an independent or will you be with the minority?” “For now, Mr. President, I’ll be with the minority. But again, I would like to thank you for that and for the respect, and we will all still be friends no matter what,” Ejercito replied.
Zubiri and Ejercito joined the minority bloc after Cayetano was widely criticized for a shooting incident in the Senate initiated by the sergeant-at-arms on May 13, and for letting the fugitive Sen. Ronald dela Rosa slip out of the building amid the chaos. Dela Rosa, who had been in hiding for six months to evade arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in the bloody war on drugs, appeared at the Senate that day to cast his vote for Cayetano. He is now at large.
Cayetano on Monday said he was not sure whether he would be the shortest serving Senate chief in Philippine history as he spoke of efforts to unseat him.
“We do feel the forces ganging up on us,” Cayetano told a group of pastors during a prayer meeting. “I know for a fact that this is an assembly of people who love God and who want to submit to God.” “What I do not know is if it is the beginning of my journey as the Senate president or this is a ‘despedida’ (farewell party) because unlike the office of the mayor, the office of the barangay chairperson, the Office of the President, which are elected by the constituents, the Senate president serves as the pleasure of the majority of the Senate [members],” he said.
The senator added, “Yesterday, someone sent me [a note saying] that the shortest serving Senate president served for 13 days.” “So, I’m not sure if I’ll survive the 13 days or we’ll last only for seven, eight days. But what I do know is this: one day I will leave this office, maybe today, maybe a month from now, maybe after the impeachment. Who knows? But what matters is what I do in the middle,” Cayetano said.
The shortest stint as Senate president belonged to Camilo Osías, whose first term lasted only 13 days, from April 17 to 30, 1952.