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MANILA, Philippines — Business leaders, civil society groups, members of academe and former government officials have launched a signature campaign for the designation of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as the new Senate president to set the stage for the “restoration of integrity and credibility” of the Senate.
In separate statements, the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) have also urged senators to restore public trust in the institution by prioritizing national interest, as it starts the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The MBC said the “unprecedented drama and chaos” that took place at the Senate during its sudden leadership change last May 11 have severely damaged the institution’s credibility.
For MAP president Donald Lim, a “peaceful and principled realignment in Senate leadership” would ensure the impeachment proceedings would be “on the firmest possible foundation of impartiality and fairness.”
Meanwhile, leading the signature drive were Philippine Investment Management Inc. president and chief executive officer Ramon del Rosario, former Senate president Franklin Drilon, De La Salle University president Brother Bernardo Oca, Ateneo de Davao University president Fr. Karen San Juan, De La Salle Lipa president Br. Edmundo Fernandez and former education chief Brother Armin Luistro.
“Senator Gatchalian has served in the Senate since 2016 and has chaired the committees on finance, basic education and energy portfolios that demand technical rigor and consensus-building. He is principal author of landmark measures such as the Free Higher Education Act and has led major fiscal and energy reforms,” they said.
“He opened up the budget process to civil society participation, livestreamed the proceedings of the bicam, cut overpriced public works projects, restored the PhilHealth budget, advocated for improvements to public transport and mobility and led the highest education budget in our nation’s history to address our learning crisis,” they also pointed out.
Close vote
In initiating the signature campaign, they said the leadership change on May 11 was decided by a close vote of 13 against 11, resulting in the assumption of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President and the ouster of Sen. Vicente Sotto III.
“In this context, we believe the Senate has an opportunity to reaffirm the credibility and the integrity of the Senate through its choice of leadership,” the signatories said in their statement.
“The court begins its work in a difficult moment where public trust in the Senate has eroded, coming against a turbulent political backdrop, just days after chaos and a shootout in the upper house and a change in its leadership,” they said, referring to the convening of the Senate as an impeachment court on May 28 to try Vice President Duterte.
They added that Gatchalian led the Senate committee on finance “with integrity,” in the aftermath of the flood control scandal.
“His temperament and track record make him well-suited to preside over the Senate where fairness, not faction, must prevail. We therefore appeal to our senators to consider a peaceful realignment that places the trial on the firmest possible footing,” the signatories added.
They said a leadership that is widely perceived as impartial will protect not only the rights of the accused and the House prosecutors, but the credibility of the Senate itself.
“Securing at least 13 votes for Senator Gatchalian would send a clear, sober signal to the Filipino people: that the Senate respects the Constitution and will get back to work to address our people’s most pressing needs,” the signatories said.
The proponents said individuals may continue to sign up through the link: tinyurl.com/SenWinForSPSignUp.
The MBC also emphasized the importance of the Senate president in restoring the credibility and integrity of the institution.
“The Senate president in particular represents the entire Senate as its institutional head, chief executive officer and legal representative. As such, restoring the credibility and integrity of the Senate as an institution rests to a large extent on the Senate president to serve as a moral compass, administrative guardian and public face of the institution,” MBC said.
No to Chiz as SP
Members of the Senate minority bloc, meanwhile, have rejected a proposal of Sen. Francis Escudero to lead a new majority as Senate president to oust Cayetano.
The minority senators, collectively called Solid Bloc 11 (SB 11) because it has 11 members, had to reject a proposal from “intermediaries” that Escudero jump to the minority on the condition that he be made Senate president instead of Gatchalian. This was according to Sen. Francis Pangilinan in an interview yesterday on ANC’s “Headstart.”
“There were discussions, but it was immediately shot down by the minority bloc. There were intermediaries but not Sen. Chiz himself, but immediately we didn’t make a big issue out of it because the 11 were solid that such proposition was not acceptable,” Pangilinan said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who held the chamber’s second-highest position as president pro-tempore before Cayetano’s coup against Sotto, earlier said it was SB 11’s “non-negotiable” position to have Gatchalian lead the chamber.
“I’ve never seen groups calling for the resignation of the Senate president,” Pangilinan said, adding that presidents or Cabinet secretaries are the usual targets of resignation calls.
He said senators “by and large” are sensitive to public opinion, and that they – especially the re-electionists – may cave in to public opinion.
“So we’re hoping that a number of those in the majority would decide not because of anything else, not because there’s anything in exchange but because they’re being sensitive to the public pulse,” he added. Pangilinan admitted removing Cayetano from the Senate leadership could take time.
“Like I said: in politics, one week is a long time. We’d like to finish this and fix the problem and go back to work. That’s what we want to achieve as soon as possible but unfortunately some of these things take time,” he added.
Status quo, for now
At a press conference, Sen. Risa Hontiveros shared Pangilinan’s observation that a status quo or a Cayetano-led chamber would have to prevail for now.
“As of the moment, no addition (to minority) yet. That’s why we in the minority are focused on restoring the public’s high regard for the Senate,” Hontiveros said in Filipino.
Imee withdraws con-ass video
Also yesterday, Sen. Imee Marcos was castigated by members of the minority bloc for delivering a privilege speech riddled with “disinformation.”
Marcos ended her speech by rejecting any interpellations, which forced Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri to raise a point of order and to move to strike the video from the records.
Marcos took the floor to accuse some members of the minority of orchestrating a push for Charter change allegedly designed to keep senators in power beyond terms and to change the required age for a presidential candidate to prevent the Vice President from running in 2028.
In a display of the opposition’s solidarity, nine other senators raised their hands to second Zubiri’s motion to strike out Marcos’ video. Only Sen. Lito Lapid deferred from the minority.
Marcos withdrew the video.
Cayetano stand on drug war hit
Meanwhile, Rep. Benny Abante chastised Cayetano for calling the bloody drug war of former president Rodrigo Duterte as a “pro-life campaign.”
“Let me remind Cayetano that we are not a socialist nor a communist country. And he should realize no one can escape accountability. We are a nation under God and the Constitution even says that life is sacred. He is supposed to be brilliant, who knows the Constitution,” Abante, who is also an evangelical preacher, said.
“He should study the real definition of human rights as enshrined in the 1987 Constitution. Even the United Nations is concerned about (it),” Abante said.
Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David also criticized Cayetano for his defense of Duterte’s drug war.
“The new Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano calls the bloody drug war ‘a human rights campaign’ and a ‘pro-life campaign.’ I wonder if he can say this straight to the faces of the thousands of women widowed and children orphaned when their loved ones – on mere suspicion of drug involvement and without benefit of due process – were murdered in cold blood,” David said on Facebook. — Neil Jayson Servallos, Delon Porcalla
