Senate ‘circus’ goes on

The new opposition majority in the Senate went on with its plenary session yesterday afternoon as it challenged the legality of Senate President Franklin Drilon’s move adjourning the Senate sine die on Monday night.

The political crisis spawned by the opposition’s takeover of the Senate spilled over to the House of Representatives as it also adjourned its second regular session apparently to avoid recognizing the new Senate majority.

Both administration and opposition congressmen are quietly shaking their heads at what Speaker Jose de Venecia described as "the chaotic situation in the Senate."

De Venecia rallied his "Sunshine Coalition," composed of several political parties including the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and Liberal Party (LP), to keep the House on track.

Meanwhile, vital economic bills pending in Congress have been left hanging as the House adjourned and the two senatorial camps prepared to argue their cases before the Supreme Court.

The House majority apparently made the move to support Drilon and the 10 other administration senators who maintain that yesterday’s session, as well as the Monday session where the opposition announced a revamp in major committees, was illegal.

"Let the children play," said administration Sen. Joker Arroyo. "We will given them the chance to do their mischief."

He belittled the opposition’s takeover and said the new majority cannot make any headway since they could only take control of key committees but could not replace Drilon.

"They took over the platoon but did not capture the general. Senator Drilon remains the executive officer of the Senate and he remains recognized by the House and Malacañang. In their case, who will recognize them?" Arroyo asked.

With 24 senators, the Senate president can only be elected by a majority of 13 votes but 12 votes is supposedly enough to change the chairmanships of 25 of the Senate’s 37 standing committees.

De Venecia confirmed that the House adjourned its session sine die because Drilon "has not been replaced."

‘Circus scenes’ at the Senate

Drilon, however, allowed all Senate employees to perform their assigned tasks and assured them they would not be sanctioned for participating in yesterday’s session.

He even allowed the Senate mace, symbol of its authority, to be installed in the session hall where the opposition senators were holding a session that was supposedly adjourned.

But Drilon also issued a memorandum informing all Senate employees that there has been no reorganization of the Senate.

"All officers and employees of the Senate are hereby notified that whatever so-called session convened and to be convened by the senators of the opposition bloc is invalid," Drilon stressed in his memorandum.

Although the administration bloc maintained that the Senate was adjourned, Arroyo proceeded with a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the controversial Gotesco land deal scam in Caloocan City.

At the session hall, the opposition approved a resolution declaring the position of Senate secretary vacant, and then electing lawyer Demaree Raval vice Oscar Yabes.

On Monday, the opposition also approved a resolution suspending all pending disbursements and expenditures of all committees, declared June 30 as "Philippine-Spain Friendship Day," and ratified five treaties.

But Drilon said that all the measures approved in yesterday’s and Monday’s sessions were invalid and would have to go through the legislative mill again.

However, Senate Majority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. insisted the adjournment sine die was "arbitrary, useless and unconstitutional" and stressed that a joint resolution scheduling the adjournment sine die on June 7 had already been approved.

"There has been no amendment to this resolution. There is also no record of the House’s giving its consent to the adjournment, so the adjournment sine die is ineffectual," Pimentel said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Blas Ople also wrote a letter to Speaker De Venecia refuting the letter of Senate Secretary Yabes that the Senate had already adjourned its session sine die.

"The alleged sine die adjournment is without any legal and constitutional basis, having been a declaration of only seven senators present in a session held outside of the session hours, without any secretariat coverage and in violation of the calendar both Houses of Congress approved on July 23, 2001," Ople wrote.

Ople asked the House to continue holding sessions until June 6, as scheduled, but the House also adjourned its session sine die until July 22 following receipt of Yabes’ letter.

Sen. Edgardo Angara also said that House’s adjournment was "another illegal move made to cover up the bungling of the Senate."

Angara maintained that the reorganization of Senate committees is safely anchored on jurisprudence and tradition and based on the need to speed up work on vital legislation.

He cited the Supreme Court decision on the Avelino vs Cuenco case where the high court ruled that 12 senators acted legally when they convened another session following the abrupt adjournment of the session by then Senate President Jose Avelino who did not want Sen. Lorenzo Tañada to deliver a speech against him.

He argued that while the ailing Sen. Ramon Revilla was out of the country, the quorum should be determined from the number of senators in the country. On that basis, 12 opposition senators should be enough to constitute a quorum and transact business.

JDV supports Drilon

"We had to respect the communication from Senate President Drilon, who has not been replaced," said De Venecia, stressing that the decision to end the session was reached with the concurrence of Tarlac Rep. Gilberto Teodoro, head of the NPC, and Batanes Rep. Florencio Abad, LP president.

"Had we continued our session, we would have extended political recognition to the emergence of a group laying claim to the leadership of the Senate. We do not want to be party to the chaotic situation in the Senate," De Venecia stressed.

But the House minority opposed the move to adjourn and even tried to convene a session after Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul Gonzales, the day’s presiding officer, accepted a motion from Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II to adjourn the session sine die until July 22, the opening of second regular session of Congress.

"This adjournment is illegal," shouted Minority Leader Carlos Padilla (LDP, Nueva Vizcaya) as House personnel turned off microphones at the session floor.

But the majority prevailed, angering Padilla who wanted to confront De Venecia save for cooler heads who led him away from the House boss.

"This House will never be the same again," Padilla said.

Opposition Rep. Abraham Mitra of Palawan also objected to the adjournment and said the House should not have assumed the role of umpire in the Senate power struggle.

"The Senate has its internal rules in settling disputes as to who the majority is. Let us allow that mechanism to work," Mitra said.

Administration congressmen also blamed President Arroyo for the brewing political crisis at the Senate.

Bulacan Rep. Willie Villarama, Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff when she was a senator and vice president, said she failed to form a strong majority in the Senate.

"She should not have dealt with (Sen. John Osmeña) to whom she gave the powerful finance committee at the start of the first regular session last year," he said.

Villarama said the President for whom he had worked for many years, should "show stronger resolve to lead this country."

Representatives Benigno Aquino III (LP, Tarlac) and Prospero Nograles (Lakas, Davao City) urged Mrs. Arroyo to quickly resolve the Senate crisis.

Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) said opposition control of the Senate could prove disastrous for the Arroyo administration because "they can hold her legislative proposals hostage."

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Lakas, Surigao del Norte) said Mrs. Arroyo should fire those who advised her to work for a Senate revamp to get her bills passed more expeditiously.

"This wrong advice has boomeranged on her and has now placed her pet bills in jeopardy," said Barbers, adding that the President’s advisers should have realized that it would be easier to work with Senators Arroyo and Ralph Recto, whom she supposedly wanted to replace.