00:01The Gachalian and Cayetano Blocks fight for control of the Senate.
00:05The group, led by Acting Senate President Win Gachalian, invokes the Avellino Doctrine of
00:091949 to validate the leadership change on June 3. The Cayetano bloc proceeds with its Blue Ribbon
00:15Committee hearing with alleged retired soldiers, implicating several lawmakers.
00:20Video shows Interior Secretary John Vicremulia appearing to block the purported retired soldiers
00:25as they were entering the Senate. Senate reporters say Senator Rodante Marcoleta's claim they
00:31received bribes is dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless. And the Philippines loses its bid
00:37for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
00:48It's a day after the 12-person New Majority installed Win Gachalian as Senate President
00:52Pro Tempore and Acting Senate President. But Gachalian's bloc and Alan Peter Cayetano's
00:57cap are still fighting for control of the upper chamber. In the press conference Thursday,
01:02June 4, Gachalian explains the legal justification to hold the session with 12 senators on Wednesday.
01:08From 1949 to now, the Avellino case is the only Supreme Court case related to quorum.
01:13Wala nang iba. So until now, ginagamit pa rin yan in cases of determining quorum.
01:20The most important is quorum. And quorum needs numbers. We have 12, they have 10. And the minimum
01:29number for quorum is 12. So all the proceedings are in full view of the public and compliant with
01:38our constitution.
01:39He earlier ordered Senate staff to work from home Thursday to ensure peace and order in the chamber.
01:44But also on Wednesday night, Cayetano sent a memo to Senate staff saying all previously scheduled
01:49hearings will proceed, including the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing to be led by his sister Pia.
01:53The Senate website shows the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing has been cancelled.
01:57But the proceedings continued where Cayetano insists he's still Senate President.
02:01The reality is, I was elected by 13. The Constitution, the Senate rule says, hindi ka pwedeng palitan
02:10kung hindi 13. So wala silang 13, so wala silang quorum. Kahit anong iimbento nila sa kanilang
02:18justification, hindi totoo yun.
02:20Gachalian says the new leadership has been recognized by the House of Representatives and by
02:24Malacanang.
02:38What's the legal president for the quorum of 12 reached by the Gachalian bloc with
02:42Senator Cheese Escudero? The group led by Acting Senate President Wind Gachalian invokes the
02:47Avellino Doctrine of 1949 to validate the leadership change. With Senator Bato de la Rosa in hiding and
02:53Senator Jinggoy Estrada in detention, the Gachalian group argue the two are beyond the Senate's
02:58coercive jurisdiction. In 1949, a landmark Supreme Court ruling was triggered by the walkout of
03:04then-Senate President Jose Avellino and his allies during a Senate session. The remaining 12 senators
03:09declared the Senate presidency vacant and designated then-Senator Mariano Cuenco to the post. The SE
03:15declared the quorum of 12 was valid and explained the walkout of 10 senators cannot prevent the other
03:2012 from passing a resolution. Wednesday's Senate shake-up is not the first in recent history to
03:25invoke the Avellino Doctrine. A similar case happened in 2015 with four senators overseas and three
03:31detained. Then-Senate President Franklin Drillon led the chamber in declaring its working membership
03:36was down to 17 and established a quorum of 12. In an interview with Cez Drillon on One News,
03:54Franklin Drillon says he considers the position of Senate President vacant after the leadership shake-up.
03:59He also commends the resolution of the impasse, saying it is already affecting public interest. He adds,
04:05those questioning the validity of the Gachalian majority can go to the courts,
04:09but until then, there is a presumption of regularity.
04:13The Cayetano bloc pushes through with its Blue Ribbon Committee hearing with self-proclaimed
04:18retired soldiers. Allegedly once employed by former Congressman Zaldico, the 18 men say,
04:24President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and other officials
04:28received suitcases filled with cash. The purported ex-soldiers also implicate several House lawmakers,
04:35including Congresswoman Laila Delima and members of the Makabayan bloc in their allegations,
04:39but Delima did not assume office until mid-2025. Two of the so-called retired Marines,
04:45even alleged Senators Tito Soto and Erwin Tulfo, received kickbacks. Soto was not in public office
04:51from 2022 to mid-2025. Tulfo was a Congressman for Act CIS party list at the time. In a phone
04:58call with
04:58reporters, Tulfo denies the allegations, calling the claim against him a blatant lie and the hearing
05:18The so-called hearing was not streamed by the Senate and was not on record. But media organizations
05:23were allowed to cover the event attended by six Senators from the Cayetano bloc.
05:29Video shows Interior Secretary John Vic Remulia appearing to block 18 alleged former Marines as
05:34they were entering the Senate Thursday, June 4. This Senators Pia Cayetano and Robin Padilla were
05:40fetching the men from the building entrance to bring them to the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on flood
05:44control corruption.
05:46I'm just surprised because it's fine. I said to our resource person,
05:50I said, let's go in. I'm surprised when I saw Secretary John Vic Remulia. I'm surprised.
05:58I never thought the day would come that somebody would prevent me from entering the Senate. This is
06:05my office. This is the Senate. This is the cause of democracy. Remulia denies he was trying to
06:11prevent the alleged former soldiers from attending the proceedings. He says he was caught off guard
06:16by the large group and had adopted a defensive stance. He says he was at the Senate to ensure
06:21peace between opposing rallyists outside the building and to speak with Acting Senate President
06:25Sherwin Gatchalian about securing the area.
06:41Cayetano says she had to personally collect her resource persons from the entrance because
06:45Senate staff were holding them. All this due to confusion from the tug of war between the Senate's
06:50opposing factions as Cayetano and her allies cling to their posts despite the leadership change.
06:57Journalists covering the Senate slammed Senator Rodante Marcoleta for saying they received bribes
07:02from the camp of Acting Senate President Win Gatchalian. The reporters say this was a
07:07irresponsible and reckless attack. Marcoleta calls them paid hacks and alleges reporters failed to
07:14question the move of Gatchalian's camp to cancel the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing Thursday, June 4.
07:18But journalists did question Gatchalian on the postponed Senate probe.
07:22In a joint statement, the Senate reporters condemned the claims of Marcoleta. It reads,
07:28At a time when disinformation and political polarization continue to undermine public discourse,
07:32government officials should exercise greater restraint and responsibility in their pronouncements.
07:37In a press conference with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Marcoleta explains his beef with the media.
07:43He says he was not quoted by broadsheets in reports despite a long speech he gave during an
07:47Iglesia Ni Cristo rallying in Luneta.
07:50I was using the example in the rally of the IRC last July 13 yata yun, 2025.
08:01It was a 2 million crowd gathered in Luneta.
08:07Marcoleta, rally na nga yun si yun, and I am one of the four speakers.
08:11So 11 reporters saw it. 11 reporters heard it. Alaman nyo, walaman na akong pangalan to.
08:31Marcoleta eventually takes back his accusation.
08:41The Philippines loses its bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council Wednesday,
08:46June 3 or early Thursday Manila time.
08:49At the end of four rounds of secret balloting, the Philippines received only 49 votes,
08:54while rival Kyrgyzstan garnered 142 votes.
08:57Only the two countries were vying for the sole vacant seat for the Asia-Pacific region.
09:02The UN Security Council is considered the most powerful body in the UN.
09:07To win a seat, a member must secure at least two-thirds of the votes from those present during the
09:11session or 128 votes during the fourth round.
09:15In a statement released after voting concluded,
09:17Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Teresa Lazaro congratulates the Kyrgyz Republic.
09:22This is the first time the Philippines lost a bid for the UNSC.
09:25It sat on the UNSC in 2004, 1980, 1963, and 1957.
09:31This is also the first time Kyrgyzstan will sit on the Council.
09:34Its term will begin on January 1, 2027 and end on December 31, 2028.
09:40Some analysts and UN observers see the race in the context of the
09:43superpower competition between Washington and Beijing.
09:46The Philippines is a treaty ally of the United States,
09:49while Kyrgyzstan has close trade and security ties with China.
09:54And that's today's wrap.
09:55I'm JC Gutinga.
09:57Click the link below for the full story.
09:59For more updates, download the Rappler app.
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