Alan Cayetano has no control over Senate with only 11 in majority, says Drilon

Former Senate President Franklin Drilon has likened Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to a “king without a kingdom” after the 13 members of the Senate majority went down to 11 after the arrest on Monday of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for plunder.

According to Sandra Aguinaldo’s report in “24 Oras” on Monday, the majority was already down to 12 after Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa left the Senate following the Senate shooting incident on May 13. He is facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

“King without a kingdom. He has no control over the Senate. There are only 11 votes, so Alan Cayetano cannot pass a measure because he will have to have the support of the majority,” Drilon said.

With Estrada's arrest and Dela Rosa not attending sessions, the Senate is now split into 11 members each in the majority and minority.

Cayetano, in a statement after Estrada's arrest, called on the majority to make a stand for the Senate and join a move to make the chamber "go quiet."

The members of the majority skipped the Senate session on Monday, and none was held due to a lack of quorum.

Congress will adjourn sine die on Thursday, June 4.

Drilon said that the majority senators will have a hard time pushing for their interests, including the amendment to Senate rules and duties of Senate committees.

Cayetano, on May 26, moved for a vote that the Senate take up in plenary the proposal to amend the rules and allow remote participation via teleconferencing.

Cayetano has said that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will hold a hearing regarding the flood control mess on Thursday, but there is still no information about it.

“‘Yung reorganization ng committees hindi mo magalaw kasi walang majority,” said Drilon.

(You cannot touch the reorganization of the committees because there is no majority.)

Still, the minority needs two more majority senators to switch to their side to take over the leadership. Sen. Raffy Tulfo said that there are two from the majority who could make the move.

“Kung pagmamasdan ninyo ang demeanor ng mga senador sa majority at that time noong mangyari ang kaguluhan, mayroong iilan doon na hindi happy, ‘yung kilos nila, ‘yung demeanor nila. Parang hindi sila sang-ayon sa mga pangyayari. ‘Yun ‘yung dalawang maaaring lumipat,” Tulfo said.

(If you observed the demeanor of the senators in the majority at the time the chaos happened, there were a few who were not happy, based on their actions and demeanor. It seemed like they did not agree with what was happening. Those are the two who might switch sides.)

The proposed amendment to allow teleconferencing is expected to be brought up again in the plenary. But the minority senators will block such a move, as it will benefit senators who are hiding or have a pending arrest.

“Dapat pagdebatihan namin the whole day today. We have to debate on it, kaso kapag halimbawa hindi na naman nila susundin ‘yung patakaran na ‘yan, magwa-walk out ulit kami,” said Tulfo.

(We were supposed to debate on it the whole day today. We have to debate on it, but if, for example, they do not follow those rules again, we will walk out once more.) –Vince Angelo Ferreras/NB, GMA News