MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Loren Legarda raised the constitutionality of the election of Sen. WIn Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore and "acting" Senate president.
Gatchalian replaced Legarda as Senate president pro tempore after the Senate "numbers game" tilted toward the 11-member minority bloc.
Sen. Chiz Escudero, who was once with the majority group together with Legarda, switched to the minority bloc, now reduced to 10 members.
In a statement, Legarda said that no senator can validly act as Senate president "on the strength of only 12 votes."
Since the Senate is composed of 24 senators, that majority is 13. "By the fact that the senators present did not have 13 votes, they could not validly elect a Senate president or authorize any senator to act as Senate president," she said.
"The temporary absence of some members should not become a reason to lower their representation or weaken the mandate of the people who elected them,” Legarda said.
“Until there is a vacancy, resignation, expulsion, final disqualification, or other legal basis recognized by law, their seats remain part of the Senate’s full membership,” the senator said.
“We remain firm in our respect for the Constitution. Any proceeding conducted without the constitutionally required quorum raises serious questions of validity and cannot be recognized as consistent with the clear mandate of the Constitution,” she added.
