Philippine Senate standoff ends with new majority bloc

Senator Francis Escudero, who was aligned with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, broke away and joined the 11 senators in the minority bloc, shaking the upper chamber’s leadership.

Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian during his privilege speech last May 13. Gatchalian took over as Senate Pro Tempore, replacing Loren Legarda, and currently serves as acting Senate President after the quorum declared all positions vacant. Photo by Wendell Alinea/Senate Social Media Unit

Manuel Mogato | June 4, 2026

MANILA — The appearance of one senator at the Senate plenary hall ended a standoff after two session days that paralyzed legislative work in the Congress’ upper chamber.

Senator Francis Escudero, who was aligned with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, broke away and joined the 11 senators in the minority bloc, shaking the upper chamber’s leadership.

As soon as the session was called to order, a senator stood to move, declaring all positions in the chamber vacant, unseating Cayetano.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was nominated Senate President Pro-Tempore, the second-highest position, because only a simple majority of all senators present in the plenary session allowed him to take the position.

Since all positions were declared vacant, he will also serve as acting Senate President until a permanent leader is elected.

Under the law, 13 votes, or a simple majority of all senators elected into office, are needed to elect a Senate President.

Since the new majority bloc has only 12 members, it cannot elect a replacement for Cayetano.

The new majority also named new panel heads for finance, accounts, rules, defense, foreign relations, education, agriculture, and public order.

A new Senate secretary and sergeant-at-arms were also elected, replacing those appointed by Cayetano last month after grabbing the leadership from Senator Vicente Sotto III.

On the day, the lower house voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte on corruption and unexplained wealth complaints; the upper house pulled off a coup when Cayetano got 13 votes to topple Sotto. (Also read: Senate convenes as an impeachment court to hold trial to remove or not the vice president)

Eleven remained with Sotto.

Four members from Sotto’s majority blocs switched sides, and a senator, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who has gone into hiding for months, showed up at the plenary session to give Cayetano the majority.

Cayetano’s slim majority was reduced to 12-11 when dela Rosa slipped out from the Senate building three days later and went into hiding again after the International Criminal Court confirmed it had issued last year an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity. (Also read: Authorities suspend the head of legislative security as investigation begins on shooting suspect incident)

A former national police chief under former president Rodrigo Duterte, he carried out the war on drugs policy that killed about 6,000 people.

Last week, Cayetano’s majority bloc proposed changing the Senate’s rules to allow lawmakers to participate in debates and vote online, a move rejected by the minority. (Also read: Self-Serving Criminal Behavior by Senators and the Undermining of a Republic)

When the majority moved to vote on the proposal, the minority walked out, forcing the Senate to adjourn the session.

When the session resumed this week, only the 11 minority senators attended the plenary session. The 12 majority senators chose to skip the session without formal notice after Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, a member of the majority bloc, was arrested by the police on corruption charges.

This divided the Senate equally between 11 members each for the majority and minority, respectively. There was an impasse until the session’s second day.

On the last day of the first regular session of the 20th Senate, Escudero’s surprise appearance at the plenary hall ended the impasse, joining the 11 minority senators and tilting the balance to the other side.

The minority side suddenly became the majority, leading to the ouster of Cayetano and his allies from chairmanships of various committees.