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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
June 15, 2026 | 1:07pm
Empty seats fill the Senate plenary hall on June 1, 2026, after the majority bloc and presiding officers fail to show up for session. With only members of the minority bloc were in attendance, the session did not convene.
The STAR / Ryan Baldemor
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has called Congress to a special session on Wednesday, June 17, to act on key measures that were tabled amid the Senate's leadership tussle.
In a proclamation signed by Acting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Monday, June 15, Marcos directed Congress to hold the session to "urgently consider" the approval of several priority bills related to social welfare and education.
The president enumerated the following bills he wants up for consideration during the session:
- Establishment of the National Center for Geriatric Health
- Amendments to the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) Act
- Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Act
- Amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education
- Last Mile and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged and Conflict-Affected Areas (GIDA) Schools Act
- Amendments to the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act
- Anti-Political Dynasty Law
- Presidential Merit Scholarship Program
Lawmakers may also tackle "such other measures aimed towards strengthening social protection and uplifting the lives of the Filipino people."
The proclamation also designates the special session as a time for the Commission on Appointments to decide on pending appointments in the Cabinet, military and the foreign service.
Late last month, an attempt by the Cayetano-led group — which was until recently the majority — to introduce remote voting had pushed the minority bloc under Sen. Tito Sotto III to walk out in protest, preventing a quorum.
In retaliation, the chamber under then-Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano had skipped plenary sessions for two straight days.
The Senate has since been thrown into further disarray amid Cayetano's refusal to recognize the installation of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as president pro tempore and de-facto acting Senate president.
All of these, on top of the previous power grab that unseated former Senate President Sotto and shuffled the committee chairships in mid-May, has largely brought the chamber's legislative business to a standstill.
Sotto's group, or the majority, had secured the required 12 to reach quorum, declare all seats vacant, and elect Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore before the chamber adjourned on June 3. They were however short of one senator to elect a new Senate president.
It is Gatchalian whom Marcos recognizes as the official leader of the Senate.
