00:01The Senate Minority Block urges Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to resign over dereliction of duty.
00:07Cayetano's old playbook returns with Wi-Fi and air conditioning turned off in the Senate Hall despite the presence of
00:13minority Senators.
00:14The House of Representatives expels Cavite 4th District Representative Kiko Barzaga.
00:19Vice President Sara Duterte asks the Senate Impeachment Court to junk the articles of impeachment against her.
00:25And Lebanon announces a partial ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
00:38The Senate Minority Block urges Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to resign after his absence again from the plenary on
00:44Tuesday, June 2.
00:46Instead of attending the session, Cayetano went live on Facebook at 3.19pm saying the absence of majority Senators is
00:53a, quote, protest against the puppet Senate.
00:55Minority Block Senators say, quote,
00:57What happened today was a clear abandonment of responsibility, a dereliction of duty, and a blatant disregard of the rules
01:04that govern this institution.
01:05The Senators emphasize the Senate cannot be made to stop working simply because its presiding officer refuses to lead.
01:12They cite Rule 14, Section 41 of the Rules of the Senate which states,
01:16The Senate President may postpone a session after consulting with the majority and minority leaders.
01:21But the minority says Cayetano broke this rule and calls it serious disrespect for the institution and the Filipino people.
01:28Only the 11 members of the minority block were present in the plenary Tuesday.
01:33Without a quorum or at least 13 Senators physically present, the Senate could not conduct business.
01:40Cayetano's old playbook returns with air conditioning turned off and Wi-Fi disconnected at the Senate plenary session Monday, June
01:471, even with minority Senators present.
01:49The shutdown of utilities coincide with the non-appearance of members of the majority block.
01:54Some, including Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, chose to stay with Senator Jinggoy Estrada as the latter was arrested over
02:01plunder and graft charges.
02:02Members of the minority and guests left the premises, given the circumstances at the session hall.
02:07Cayetano tried to rally members of the minority block, saying,
02:10events of the past few days may have blurred this distinction, but what happened with one of our colleagues today
02:15brings it sharply back into focus.
02:18But minority Senators criticized the majority block's absence, describing it as a boycott of duty.
02:48This isn't the first time utilities were shut down during Cayetano's leadership.
02:52In 2020, Cayetano refused to step down as Speaker of the House, leading to a shutdown of utilities on the
02:57plenary floor.
03:00The House of Representatives expels Cavite 4th District Representative Kiko Barzaga,
03:05making him the second lawmaker in Philippine history to receive such a penalty.
03:09The plenary determined that he continued his unruly conduct on social media.
03:12Since my last day in Congress, I'm saying my goodbyes to my fellow colleagues, at sinasabi ko sa kanila, huwag
03:20na masyadong mag-nakap.
03:21Barzaga had already been slapped with two 60-day suspensions prior to his expulsion.
03:26His colleagues punished him for his online antics, including his apparent vilification of his fellow National Unity Party member, the
03:33late Romeo Acop.
03:34It also includes his bribery allegations against billionaire Enrique Razon.
03:38He had also been called out for posts that joked about setting the Batasang Pambansa on fire.
03:43Barzaga's expulsion ends his family's reign over the Dasmariñas Congressional District.
03:48He follows in the footsteps of Arnie Tevez, whom the House ejected in 2023 after his prolonged absence.
03:56Vice President Sara Duterte asks the Senate Impeachment Court to junk the articles of impeachment against her.
04:01Duterte claims the articles suffer from fatal constitutional, procedural, and substantive defects.
04:07This is contained in documents she submitted to the Senate Monday, June 1, her official response to the case.
04:13Senate Secretary and concurrent Impeachment Clerk of Court, Jose Luis Montales, officially received it from Duterte's legal team.
04:19Duterte argues the allegations fall short of the standard under the Constitution to establish culpable violations listed against her in
04:26the articles.
04:41The Vice President also accuses the House panel of prejudgment and questions the introduction of, quote,
04:47new pieces of evidence not included in the impeachment complaints.
04:52Lebanon announces a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel in what would amount to a limited de-escalation of a
04:58conflict.
05:00Lebanon's embassy in Washington says the agreement would not end the conflict in that country.
05:04But it calls on Israel to refrain from strikes on Beirut and its suburbs controlled by Hezbollah,
05:09while the Iran-aligned group would halt its attacks on Israel.
05:12U.S. President Donald Trump, who first announced the agreement, said Hezbollah, through intermediaries, had pledged not to attack Israel.
05:19Trump also says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to pull back any troops preparing to attack Beirut.
05:25Lebanon said it would seek to expand the ceasefire in talks with Israel in Washington on Wednesday, June 3.
05:32And that's today's wrap. I'm JC Gotinga. Thank you for watching.
05:36Click the link below for the full story.
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