By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The Senate minority bloc led by former Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has formally appealed to the Supreme Court to immediately resolve the constitutional dispute over the Senate’s quorum rules, warning that failure to do so could cast a cloud over the impending impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a manifestation and motion filed on June 29 and disclosed Tuesday, the group argued that allowing the impeachment proceedings to move forward without first settling the legality of the Senate’s controversial June 3 session risks creating a constitutional crisis that may invalidate subsequent actions taken by the chamber.
According to the petitioners, billions of pesos in government resources and countless official acts could be wasted if the impeachment process is later declared unconstitutional because it relied on procedures established during a session whose legality remains under judicial challenge.
At the heart of the dispute is the June 3 Senate gathering where only 12 senators were present. During that session, the chamber declared several leadership positions vacant, reorganized key committees, and approved amendments to the Senate’s impeachment rules.
The minority bloc insists that these actions were undertaken without the constitutionally required quorum, making every decision adopted that day legally questionable.
Although the Senate majority maintains that the June 17 session—where Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian secured 13 votes to become Senate President—effectively settled the leadership issue, Cayetano’s camp argued that later political developments cannot erase alleged constitutional violations committed earlier.
The petition stressed that subsequent actions cannot retroactively legitimize proceedings whose legality is precisely what the High Court has been asked to determine.
The minority also challenged amendments introduced through Senate Resolution No. 48, particularly the provision allowing senators to elect a presiding officer for impeachment cases involving officials other than the President.
The petition claims the amendment was enacted specifically in preparation for the impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte and should not remain in effect until the Supreme Court rules on whether the session that approved it was constitutionally valid.
According to the senators, proceeding under rules that may later be struck down would place the credibility of the entire impeachment process in jeopardy.
Aside from questioning the June 3 proceedings, the petition seeks a definitive interpretation of how the Constitution defines a Senate quorum.
Specifically, the group wants the Supreme Court to clarify whether detained senators should still be counted as part of the constitutional membership when determining the number of lawmakers required to conduct official business.
The issue has taken on greater significance following recent legal developments involving one of the petitioners, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, as well as continuing questions surrounding detained senators whose status could affect quorum computations.
Call for Immediate Judicial Action
With the impeachment trial scheduled to begin soon, Cayetano’s bloc urged the High Court to act without delay, arguing that postponing its ruling could result in irreversible legal consequences.
The petitioners maintained that the case goes far beyond a dispute over Senate leadership, describing it as a defining constitutional question that will determine whether legislative actions remain firmly anchored on the rule of law.
They argued that only a clear ruling from the Supreme Court can eliminate uncertainty and protect the integrity of one of the Constitution’s most significant accountability mechanisms before the impeachment proceedings formally commence.
ia/xf
