Senate minority won't heed Alan Cayetano's 'boycott call' after Jinggoy Estrada's arrest

Members of the minority in the Senate on Monday won't heed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano's call to let the Senate "fall silent" after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada's arrest on plunder charges.

"Let us focus on the work, because the Senate has serious business before it, and if the majority wants to protest, deliver privilege speeches, or defend its position, the proper place to do that is on the floor, not by making the chamber stand still," said the Solid Bloc 11 in a statement.

Cayetano, in a statement issued as the majority skipped the session on Monday, indicated a call for the minority to join the majority in making a stand for independence by making the Senate "go quiet, together and by choice."

“The claim that this is about Senate independence is false, because what happened today was about the rule of law, public accountability, and a lawful process before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan that no senator, no bloc, and no presiding officer controls,” the minority bloc said.

“This is a boycott because of the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and the public should not be asked to believe another convenient line from a leadership that has repeatedly twisted the truth,” the minority senators said.

Cayetano called on the 11 minority senators to “uphold Senate independence,” saying that senators’ differences or issues are the Senate’s business.

The minority is made up of the following senators.

1. Sen. Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV
2. Sen. JV Ejercito
3. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian
4. Sen. Risa Hontiveros
5. Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson
6. Sen. Lito Lapid
7. Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan
8. Sen. Erwin Tulfo
9. Sen. Raffy Tulfo
10. Sen. Vicente "Tito" Sotto III
11. Sen. Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri

In response to Cayetano, the minority bloc said it was “unacceptable to suddenly call the rule of law an attack on the Senate," considering the long-standing clamor for accountability in the flood control scandal.

Estrada's plunder charge before the Sandiganbayan was in connection with over P570 million worth of congressional allocations, insertions, and kickbacks tied to anomalous flood control projects.

"Sa totoo lang, ang gusto nila ay kampihan, hindi prinsipyo," the minority bloc said.

(What they want is for us to take their side, not stand on principle.)

The Senate session on Monday didn't proceed.

In a social media update by Nimfa Ravelo of DZBB, a media relations officer of Cayetano told reporters that the session is suspended.

“The Solid Bloc 11 minority senators were present today for the 5 p.m. resumption of session, ready to work, ready to vote on pending bills and ready to keep the Senate running, but the majority led by SP Cayetano chose not to show up,” they said in the statement.

“They did not even have the courtesy to inform us when they ignored the rules, and could not extend the basic decency of telling the minority that they had no intention of convening,” they added.

The non-convening of the session on Monday raised questions among the minority bloc, and asked whether the majority, under the leadership of Cayetano, plans to do this again for the next two session days.

“The Senate should open its doors, call the session to order, and return to work, because no Facebook post, no appeal to institutional pride, and no political drama can erase the basic duty of senators to show up, follow the law, and serve the people,” the minority bloc said.

Following the incident, the Senate minority bloc called on Filipinos to watch the Senate closely, arguing that when an institution refuses to work, public vigilance becomes the people’s first line of defense.

Cayetano went to Camp Crame, where Estrada was taken to be processed after the police took him into custody.

The minority senators waited until past 7 p.m. –NB, GMA News