The Senate failed to hold a plenary session after members of the majority bloc, led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, did not appear following the arrest of Jinggoy Estrada, leaving only the 11-member minority in attendance.
After more than two hours of quorum bell ringing, minority senators left the session hall, with several lawmakers criticizing what they described as a boycott and questioning the lack of notice from the Senate leadership.
The aborted session came amid heightened tensions between the majority and minority blocs following a recent dispute over proposed rule changes on remote voting.
In a statement, Cayetano urged senators to “let the Senate go quiet” in response to Estrada’s arrest, while minority members argued that legislative work should continue despite the controversy.
Meanwhile, relatives of former pre-martial law senators issued a strongly worded statement condemning the current Senate, calling it a “camp of blatant lawbreakers” and lamenting what they described as a decline in the institution’s integrity and accountability.
Source: PhilNews24 | June 2, 2026
