Former Senate President Franklin Drilon on Sunday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should intervene in the Senate impasse, saying the upper chamber must be able to function amid the leadership dispute.
“Dapat makia-alam ang Presidente kung di pa siya nakiki-alam at walang masama doon dahil ito ay sangay ng pamahalaan na dapat mag-trabaho at tungkulin ng Pangulo na ang buong pamahalaan ay gumagalaw,” Drilon said in an interview with radio dzBB.
Drilon said the President has the right to intervene in such situations despite the separation of powers among the three branches of government, citing how former President Rodrigo Duterte stepped in when then Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano refused to honor the term-sharing agreement with Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
“Sa mga ganitong hidwaan, nakikialam ang Pangulo. Alam ni Cayetano at Gatchalian ’yan. Ang problema dito ay kung hindi susundin ng sinuman ang papanigan ng Pangulo. Sa ngayon, nire-recognize ng Pangulo, ng Malakanyang ay si Win Gatchalian. Dapat tanggapin ni Cayetano at dalhin sa Supreme Court tama ba ito, ang pag-recognize kay Sen. Gatchalian,” he said.
Drilon said Malacañang’s intervention should not be interpreted to mean that the Senate would become a “stamp pad” of the Palace, stressing that the President has the duty to ensure that the legislature is working.
“Can you imagine kung ganito nang ganito, walang makikialam, walang tumutulong para ma-areglo? Kapag tumagal na walang nangyari hanggang pumasok si Chiz Escudero, kundi siya pumasok, wala nang mangyayari sa atin,” he said.
Drilon said Cayetano should heed the decision of the 12 senators who voted to declare all elected positions in the Senate vacant, saying several cases have established that the base number of senators for quorum purposes should be those within the “coercive jurisdiction” of the Senate.
He cited People v. Maceda (2000) and Trillanes v. Pimentel (2008) as examples. Drilon also said that in 2015, when he was Senate president, he declared a quorum with only 12 senators in the plenary because four senators were abroad and three were detained at the time.
“Ang number of senators for purposes of determining the quorum ay yung mga available senators, ibig sabihin, kung ilang ang nandito sa bansa at ilang ang puwedeng makadalo. Sabi ng Supreme Court, ang bibilangin ay mga senador na nasa ilalim ng Senado for attendance…Ngunit kung ang senador ay nasa labas ng bansa or naka-detain, walang kapangyirhan ang Senado na pilitin na dalhin ang senador sa session hall for purposes of quorum,” he said.
In the present case, Drilon said Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada are not under the Senate’s coercive jurisdiction because dela Rosa is in hiding, while Estrada is detained for the non-bailable offense of plunder.
Drilon urged Cayetano to accept the situation so the country could move forward.
“Para sa kapakanan ng bansa, siguro tanggapin na at kuwestunin sa Supreme Court ang nangyayari para maka-move on na tayo. Kailangan tanggapin kasi may presumption of regularity…hanggang baligtarin ng Supreme Court,” he said.
Drilon also said Vice President Sara Duterte should recognize the Gatchalian bloc regarding the impeachment trial.
“Halimbawa, sabihin natin na dalawa ang session ng Senado for the impeachment, yung isa kay Win at yung isa kay Cayetano. Eh ang House prosecution doon magsusumite ng evidence sa faction ni Sen. Gatchalian…doon sila mag-a-attend at mag-a-argue. Ano ang mangyayari sa kabila? Wala. Yan po ay pinapayagan na kilalanin ng ating batas na kilalanin ang isang faction dahil may regularity in the performance of their duties, at ni-recognize ng Malacanang si Sen. Gatchalian,” he added.
He said the Gatchalian faction could still conduct the impeachment trial even if the 10 senators aligned with Cayetano would not attend.
“Sixteen ang kailangan lamang sa judgment of conviction. Yung pang-araw-araw na paglilitis ng impeachment trial ay hindi kailangan ang 16. Ang kailangan ay quorum lamang at ang quorum sa Senado ay siya rin ang quorum sa impeachment court. Kaya di po problema na walang 16 dahil ang quorum sa ngayon ay 12 lang,” he added.
Drilon warned that it would be “risky” if Duterte refused to recognize the Gatchalian faction.
“Malaking risk ’yan dahil kung ayaw tanggapin ng VP at sasabihin niya di niya kinikilala si Sen. Gatchalian, ang kinikilala ko ay si Sen. Cayetano, eh hindi ako maglalagay ng ebidensiya. I will not dispute the allegations, di ako magpa-participate in the trial conducted by Sen. Gatchalian. Sasabihin ng Supreme Court na tama si Sen. Gatchalian, tama siya ang mamuno. Tama ang ginagawa niya. So, anong mangyayari kay VP?” he added.
Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, said Cayetano could insist that he remains Senate president, but it could not be denied that their faction has 12 senators compared to the 10 under Cayetano.
“So, obviously, may majority tayo (So, obviously, we are the majority),” Gatchalian said in a separate interview with radio dzBB.
Gatchalian said Cayetano should recognize that several institutions have acknowledged his faction as the legitimate majority, including the Executive, the House of Representatives, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, law deans, and legal luminaries.
“Nakikita ko sa mga interview, sinasabi na yung nangyari ay legal at regular. Hindi galing sa akin, hindi galing sa majority ’yan. Yan ay independent analysis nila. So in other words, yung nangyari last Wednesday ay naaayon sa proseso at naaayon sa batas,” he added.
Gatchalian also brushed aside Cayetano’s warning that he should not allow himself to be used by Malacañang or by some colleagues in rising to the top.
He said the decision was based on the consensus of the 12-member majority.
“Wala naman nagpapagamit kahit kanino. In fact, yung mga kasamahan sa majority, consensus-building kami, nag-uusap-usap kami sa isa’t isa. Nagbibigay ng payo, ako humihingi ng payo. Wala naman monopolya ng talino at galing…at yun naman ang maganda dito sa majority, nagtutulungan. So kaya, ang aming consensus ay bumalik sa trabaho,” he added.
Gatchalian reiterated that he is willing to reach out to all senators, regardless of faction, to end the impasse, saying they remain friends even outside the Senate.
He said he would talk to Cayetano after the latter said he had been inviting him to a dialogue.
“Siguro kami na lang mag uusap kung paano matuloy yun dahil magkakakilala naman kami at matagal na rin kami nagkakakilala so gagawan na lang ng paraan,” he added.
Gatchalian said he has not yet asked Marcos to call a special session because he has not yet determined what needs to be discussed.
Asked whether he had requested that the President call a special session, which would mean the other senators would join them, Gatchalian said it was still difficult to say.
“Mahirap magsabi niyan ngayon dahil ang importante sa special session, typically ang special session ginagawa yan kung may mga bagay na hindi natapos,” he added.
Cayetano, for his part, informed lawyer Levito Baligod that the hearing called by Sen. Erwin Tulfo on June 8 was not authorized by Sen. Pia Cayetano, the Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson under his faction.
“We must clarify, however, that the hearing purportedly set for 08 June 2026 was not authorized by this Office, by Senator Pia S. Cayetano as Committee Chairperson, or by Senator Rodante D. Marcoleta as Subcommittee Chairperson. None of these offices scheduled such a hearing or authorized Director Josephine D. G. Herrera to issue any invitation in connection with it. The notice did not come from any of them,” Cayetano said in a letter to Baligod dated June 6.
Cayetano said official invitations should come only from the Office of Sen. Pia Cayetano, the Office of Marcoleta, or the committee secretariat, “acting under their discretion,” as they are the only authorized sources of official notices and schedules for the committee and its subcommittee.
He also cautioned the 18 “maleta boys” that proceedings not conducted by their committee would not afford them the “procedural safeguards and protection” accorded to witnesses before properly constituted hearings.
“Recent threats of arrest directed at participants, and the involvement of various government agencies in matters touching these testimonies, have raised legitimate concerns for the treatment of witnesses and for an atmosphere fit for the search for truth. We therefore urge all concerned to exercise prudence and to verify the source and authority of any invitation purporting to compel appearance,” he said.
“We recognize that appearing before a Senate proceeding under present circumstances is no small matter. But the Committee’s task is to receive and weigh all evidence through fair and orderly process — and it is that process, impartiality applied, that protects every witness and the integrity of the inquiry alike. No person summoned to testify should face threat or intimidation, whatever the Committee’s eventual findings may be. We trust its duly constituted leadership to discharge that duty with the neutrality the matter demands,” he added.