Gatchalian formally elected Senate president after special session

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian was formally elected Senate president on Wednesday, June 17, after the Senate convened in a special session that achieved the required quorum, ending weeks of leadership uncertainty in the chamber.

Gatchalian secured enough support to take the Senate’s top post after Sen. Joel Villanueva joined the proceedings, bringing the number of participating lawmakers to 13 and allowing the chamber to formally elect a new Senate president.

The new majority bloc is composed of Gatchalian, Villanueva, Majority Leader Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, JV Ejercito, Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Raffy Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo and Lito Lapid.

During the same session, Sotto was elected Senate president pro tempore.

Gatchalian becomes the fourth Senate president of the 20th Congress, succeeding Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who was removed from the position during a controversial Senate session on June 3.

On that date, Gatchalian was elected Senate president pro tempore and served as acting Senate president after a majority of senators voted to reorganize the chamber’s leadership.

However, his election as Senate president could not be finalized because only 12 senators were present, one short of the 13-member quorum required for the election of a Senate president.

The June 3 proceedings sparked a dispute within the Senate and led Cayetano and several of his allies to question the legitimacy of the leadership change.

On Tuesday, Cayetano and members of his bloc filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to nullify the election of the Gatchalian-led Senate leadership, arguing that the June 3 session lacked a valid quorum.

Among those aligned with Cayetano were Senators Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Imee Marcos, Rodante Marcoleta, Camille Villar, Mark Villar, Robin Padilla, Christopher “Bong” Go, detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who was absent during the proceedings.

Wednesday’s special session resolved the quorum issue after Villanueva participated in the proceedings. Villanueva and Escudero had previously been identified with the Cayetano-led majority bloc.

Escudero had earlier broken ranks with Cayetano after appearing during the June 3 session, a move that strengthened support for Gatchalian’s camp.

Before the special session opened, Cayetano released a statement saying he had accepted his removal as Senate president and held no ill feelings toward Villanueva despite the latter’s decision to join the new majority.

“I have seen the pressures that were brought to bear, and I understand them. May the public’s judgment of you be a kind one. We are not enemies, only colleagues, brothers caught in a moment larger than us all,” said Cayetano.

The former Senate president maintained that the leadership dispute stemmed from broader issues he had been raising inside the chamber, particularly regarding government flood-control projects.

“This was never about the Senate presidency. From the very beginning, it was about the truth — the truth about the flood-control funds, the billions meant to shield our towns and our families from the waters, the protection that was paid for and never came,” he stated.

“That is the fight that began all of this — one side wanted to bring it out, the other was desperate to keep it covered. And it is a fight that we intend to continue, no title or position required,” he added.

The election of Gatchalian formally establishes a new Senate majority and ends the uncertainty surrounding the chamber’s leadership following the contested June 3 reorganization.

With the leadership issue settled inside the Senate, attention now shifts to the pending Supreme Court petition challenging the validity of the earlier proceedings and to the legislative agenda that the newly constituted majority bloc intends to pursue in the coming months.