MANILA - History has a strange way of repeating itself. And in Congress, the case of the missing mace has happened several times at dramatic turning points.

Monday's leadership shake-up at the House of Representatives, where the plenary's symbol of authority went missing, was not unprecedented.

On December 12, 1991, a tug-of-war broke out at the Senate, where the chamber's mace was also spirited away.

In his opinion piece entitled “Of mace, mice, men and women” in The Manila Times, former Senator Rene Saguisag recounted the standoff between late statesmen Jovito Salonga and Neptali Gonzales for the Senate leadership.

"The Senate mace disappeared, taken presumably by pages loyal to Senate Prez Jovy Salonga, who didn’t want him replaced by Sen. Neptali Gonzales in a shock reorganization," he said.

To proceed with the election, senators had to use a spare mace. Under Senate Rules, “without it, the Senate is not considered to be properly constituted.”

Gonzales obtained majority votes and replaced Salonga as Senate President.

"Those who voted for Nep held it with no mention in the December 1991 Senate Journal apparently of what had just transpired. A neat, successful coup," he said.

Saguisag also mentioned that Salonga, Gonzales, and him are Rizal High School alumni.

"Politics can strain relationships even between compadres," he said.

A similar incident happened several years later, this time at the House of Representatives.

In a major political comeback, former President and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was elected as the new House Speaker.

Her election that sought the removal of Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, however, was not without a hitch.

Her initial assumption of the fourth most powerful position in the land became unofficial because the House mace went missing.

The impasse, which delayed President Rodrigo Duterte's third State of the Nation Address (SONA), forever colored the ceremonies.

Alvarez represented the House during the president’s address, taking his place at the rostrum at the Batasang Pambansa alongside Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

Alvarez was then unseated after lawmakers gathered again to formalize the change in leadership, using a spare mace at the House archives.

The ousted House leader is secretary-general of the ruling party PDP-Laban.

Arroyo, meanwhile, is also allied with PDP-Laban, taking her oath before Alvarez when she joined the party in October 2017.