Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Rodante Marcoleta, and Robin Padilla, push through with their scheduled hearing, with 18 ex-Marines and their legal counsel as resource persons at the Senate plenary hall in Pasay City on June 4, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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<p>MANILA — With both blocs at the Senate convinced they constitute the majority, the chamber is locked in a power struggle that has led to competing Blue Ribbon Committee hearings and that has left Senate staff in the crossfire.</p><p>Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian, elected Wednesday by the &quot;Solid Bloc 12&quot;, said Thursday that there were no hearings scheduled that day since panels, including the Blue Ribbon Committee, still had to reorganize.</p><p>He also said, however, that senators can hold consultation meetings and bring people into the Senate as guests but not as resource speakers since there would be no committee hearings.</p><p>He added he would not order the session hall padlocked and that senators have every right to enter.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17805797746751780546669742Screen Shot 2026-06-04 at 8.36.06 AM (5).webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senators pose for a photo after the June 3, 2026 session where they declared positions vacant and elected new leadership of the chamber. Photo from the Office of Sen. Raffy Tulfo </span></span></span></div><div><strong>STAFF CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE </strong></div><p>Gatchalian had, on Wednesday, authorized work-from-home arrangements for Senate staff, saying &quot;no officer or employee shall be deemed insubordinate, absent without leave, or otherwise administratively responsible&quot; for choosing to work remotely.</p><p>That order came hours after Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who says he is still Senate president, issued a memo saying he &quot;continues to hold and exercise the powers, functions, and prerogatives of the said office&quot; and that scheduled committee hearings should push through.</p><p>Gatchalian conceded that employees have been caught in the crossfire, saying many were apprehensive about developments. </p><p>For Cayetano, there should be no confusion at all: &quot;Sino ang legitimately elected Senate president? Nasa harap n’yo. So dapat ako ang sundin pero hindi ko pini-pressure ang mga empleyado.&quot;</p><p>(Who is the legitimately elected Senate president? He is in front of you. So you should follow me, but I am not pressuring the employees.)</p><p>He also warned, however, after his group had managed to enter the Senate&#x27;s session hall where the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing was scheduled to be held, that anyone who tries to prevent the meeting from pushing through could face criminal charges.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/commotion-breaks-out-among-remulla-padilla-cayetano-1118">Commotion breaks out among Remulla, Padilla, Cayetano<br/></a></div><p>&quot;I shouldn&#x27;t have to read this. We do not want to put the Senate staff in the middle,&quot; Cayetano said after quoting from the Revised Penal Code and saying they may face fines and prison time.</p><p>Also collateral damage in the clash between blocs are the media — whom Sen. Rodante Marcoleta <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/journalists-fight-back-against-marcoleta-s-bayaran-tag-1700">accused of being paid off</a> — pending legislation, and the confirmation of the promotions of military generals.</p><p>Gatchalian plans to ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a special session to handle delayed legislative work while Marcoleta has walked back his remarks, saying he was only expressing frustration.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780580233356178055354481320260604-senate-cayetano-bloc-blue-ribbon-MT-4.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, and Rodante Marcoleta push through with their scheduled Blue Ribbon Committee hearing featuring supposed former Marines and their lawyer as resource persons at the Senate plenary hall in Pasay City on June 4, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News </span></span></span></div><div><strong>BATTLE OF BLUE RIBBONS</strong></div><p>Sen. Pia Cayetano, Alan Peter&#x27;s sister and who the bloc had elected Blue Ribbon Committee chair earlier this month, said as the hearing began that she had to fetch resource persons and log them in as guests so they could enter the premises.</p><p>&quot;This is the Senate. This is the halls of democracy. We will hold our hearing and we will continue,&quot; she said as she rejected the Gatchalian bloc&#x27;s declaration of quorum with 12 senators.</p><p>Sen. Loren Legarda also appeared at the hearing to say that she remains Senate president pro tempore.</p><p>&quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/loren-legarda-insists-she-s-still-senate-president-pro-tempore-1049">I am not AI. I&#x27;m alive and I&#x27;m present</a>,&quot; she said to stress that she had not been incapacitated or replaced.</p><p>The hearing, which ran until the afternoon, featured allegations from the supposed bagmen of former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co against several senators in the Gatchalian bloc — accusations that they swiftly denied.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/gatchalian-resource-persons-won-t-be-allowed-to-enter-senate-on-thursday-0948">Cayetano-led hearing tags Sotto, Tulfo in flood control mess<br/></a></div><p>Aside from rejecting allegations against him, Sen. Vicente &quot;Tito&quot; Sotto III also called the hearing unofficial and unauthorized since the 12 had designated Sen. Erwin Tulfo as chair of the Blue Ribbon Committe.</p><p>Tulfo had already rescheduled the hearing to Monday, June 8, and, Sotto said, what the Cayetano bloc was holding was &quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/sotto-says-cayetano-bloc-s-hearing-unofficial-unauthorized-1210">nothing more than a self-serving spectacle</a> meant to cling to positions they have already lost in a valid and constitutional reorganization of the Senate.&quot;</p><p>He said the Cayetano senators had not bothered to attend plenary sessions and were now &quot;grandstanding in an unofficial and unauthorized gathering.&quot;</p><p>Sotto, who has been Senate president three times, added: &quot;Even worse, they are reportedly threatening Senate employees with cases if they are not obeyed.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/3/what-is-the-quorum-of-12-that-broke-senate-standstill-1804">What is the ‘quorum of 12’ that broke Senate standstill?</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;AVELINO&#x27; VS. MATH</strong></div><p>The Gatchalian bloc has cited precedent as well as the 1949 Supreme Court decision in Avelino v. Cuenco in declaring a quorum on Wednesday and subsequently changing Senate leadership — a change that has been recognized by the House of Representatives and by the Palace.</p><p>But Cayetano senators have rejected this, saying the number needed to declare positions vacant is 13, based on a 24-member Senate, which would include detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; Dela Rosa, whose whereabouts are unknown.</p><p>&quot;Wala po silang 13. Kahit Grade 1, marunong magbilang. Kailangan ng 13. So wala ho silang authority gawin yung mga ginawa nila,&quot; Sen. Pia Cayetano, a lawyer, said Thursday.</p><p>(They do not have 13. Even a Grade 1 student can count. They need 13. So they have no authority to do what they did.)</p><p>The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino — Cayetano senators Dela Rosa, Bong Go, and Robinhood Padilla are members — has also questioned the Senate shake-up, saying it will file a petition at the Supreme Court to question the leadership change soon.</p><p>The Palace has said the Cayetanos can also argue their position at the Supreme Court, with press officer Claire Castro also reminding the sibling senators that they were present in the 2015 session where a quorum of 12 was declared.</p><p>&quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/palace-cayetanos-can-argue-avelino-vs-cuenco-decision-on-quorum-in-court-1710">Wala namang naging pagtutol dito, wala namang naging ginawang aksyon na sinampa sa Korte Suprema so iyan ang nasusunod na jurisprudence sa ngayon</a>,” she said.</p><p>(There was no objection to it and there was no action to question it at the Supreme Court, so that is the jurisprudence now.)</p><p>While the Supreme Court has yet to be asked to weigh in on the issue, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines — the mandatory national organization for lawyers — has called the Wednesday session lawful and valid, also citing Avelino v. Cuenco.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/ibp-12-person-senate-session-was-lawful-and-valid-1850">IBP: 12-person Senate session was lawful and valid<br/></a></div><p>While the power struggle — and staff anxiety — at the Senate may yet drag on the IBP said the Gatchalian bloc&#x27;s actions during the Wednesday session&quot; are presumed to be official acts of the Philippine Senate following the presumption of regularity in the discharge of official functions.&quot; <strong>— with reports from Rowegie Abanto, RG Cruz, Harlene Delgado, Rose Carmelle Lacuata, Jamaine Punzalan, Victoria Tulad, Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News</strong></p>

<p>With both blocs at the Senate convinced they constitute the majority, the chamber is locked in a power struggle that has led to competing Blue Ribbon Committee hearings and that has left Senate staff in the crossfire.</p>

With both blocs at the Senate convinced they constitute the majority, the chamber is locked in a power struggle that has led to competing Blue Ribbon Committee hearings and that has left Senate staff in the crossfire.

Battle of 'Blue Ribbons' shows an upper house still divided

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Battle of 'Blue Ribbons' shows an upper house still divided

Jonathan de Santos,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 04, 2026 09:48 PM PHT

Read More:

Senate

Alan Peter Cayetano

Sherwin Gatchalian

Vicente Sotto III

Erwin Tulfo

Loren Legarda

Pia Cayetano

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