Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III answers questions during a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City on October 6, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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ABS-CBN News

<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/1780546340700714780490_1533758045466113_7971901529639499214_n.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, 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. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The hearing that members of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano&#x27;s Senate bloc are &quot;unofficial and unauthorized&quot;, Sen. Vicente &quot;Tito&quot; Sotto III said Thursday as he also criticized them for not attending plenary sessions.</p><p>Sotto made the comments as Cayetano and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta held what they said is an official hearing of a subcommittee of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee into corruption in flood-control projects.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/4/loren-legarda-insists-she-s-still-senate-president-pro-tempore-1049">Loren Legarda insists she&#x27;s still Senate President pro tempore: &#x27;Never po tayong kapit-tuko&#x27;<br/></a></div><p>&quot;They have refused to attend legitimately called sessions. Now, they are grandstanding in an unofficial and unauthorized gathering,&quot; Sotto said in a statement to media.</p><p>&quot;What we are seeing is a naked grab for power dressed up as &#x27;inquiry&#x27; and &#x27;oversight.&#x27; It is nothing more than a self-serving spectacle meant to cling to positions they have already lost in a valid and constitutional reorganization of the Senate,&quot; he said.</p><p>He called the meeting by Cayetano&#x27;s senators &quot;an insult&quot; to the Senate as an institution and to taxpayers.</p><p>&quot;Even worse, they are reportedly threatening Senate employees with cases if they are not obeyed. These are civil servants who are simply trying to do their jobs in accordance with the law and the duly constituted leadership of the Senate,&quot; he said.</p><p>Cayetano at the start of proceedings warned that those who try to prevent the hearings from being held could face criminal cases.</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 flood control hearing pushes through despite Gatchalian warning<br/></a></div><p>Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian earlier Thursday said there are no committee hearings scheduled since the Blue Ribbon Committee is beign reorganized under Sen. Erwin Tulfo.</p><p>He said, however, that senators can hold consultative meetings on their own initiative.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UwEqsfbTpic?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nRqStl-BspQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The hearing that members of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano's Senate bloc are "unofficial and unauthorized", Sen. Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Thursday as he also criticized them for not attending plenary sessions.</p>

The hearing that members of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano's Senate bloc are "unofficial and unauthorized", Sen. Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Thursday as he also criticized them for not attending plenary sessions.

Sotto says Cayetano bloc's hearing 'unofficial, unauthorized'

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Sotto says Cayetano bloc's hearing 'unofficial, unauthorized'

ABS-CBN News

Published June 04, 2026 12:10 PM PHT

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Updated June 04, 2026 12:13 PM PHT

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Vicente Sotto III

Alan Peter Cayetano

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Senate Blue Ribbon Committee

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