Cayetano bloc Senate secretary requests meeting with Gatchalian bloc secretary

The Senate secretary of the Cayetano bloc on Monday requested a meeting with the Gatchalian bloc’s secretary to discuss the operations of the upper chamber and the impeachment proceedings of Vice Persident Sara Duterte.

Atty. Jose Luis Montales, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s Senate secretary, said the senator asked him to explore possible interim administrative arrangements that may protect Senate personnel from conflicting directives and enable the Senate and the Impeachment Court to continue functioning.

The letter was addressed to Atty. Renato Bantug Jr.

“At this point, it would be unfortunate if administrative, financial, logistical, or procedural concerns were to compound the legal and political issues that have already risen,” Montales said in a statement.

“We believe it would be in the best interest of the Senate and the Impeachment Court to avoid any unnecessary disruption to their operations and to the orderly conduct of the proceedings,” he added.

Dual signatory, joint certification

According to Montales, Cayetano proposed the adoption of a dual-signatory or joint certification mechanism for vouchers, checks, disbursements, contracts, personnel actions, and other documents necessary for Senate operations.

He said the documents may bear the signatures of the officials presently exercising the relevant functions and those asserting authority to perform the same functions.

Citing Cayetano, Montales said the objective is not to “confer, concede, recognize, or validate authority in any person” but for the continuity of operations.

To recall, last week, the former Senate minority bloc, as well as sole majority bloc member Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, elected Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore and acting Senate President amid the continued absence of Cayetano and other majority members during the plenary session.

For his part, Cayetano has maintained that he remains the Senate President while Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson previously said that the position is now vacant. —KG, GMA News