Conflicting: Cayetano orders Senate premises kept open; Gatchalian directs work-from-home setup

MANILA, Philippines – Senate staff are now caught between conflicting orders from two lawmakers — Alan Peter Cayetano and Win Gatchalian — amid the ongoing leadership dispute in the chamber.

Gatchalian, the newly installed Senate president pro tempore, ordered all Senate offices to shift to a work-from-home arrangement on Thursday, June 4, “in light of these developments” in the upper chamber and “to preserve the neutrality of the Senate bureaucracy.”

“No officer or employee shall be deemed insubordinate, absent without leave, or otherwise administratively responsible for opting to avail of the arrangement,” Gatchalian said in the advisory released on Wednesday night, June 3.

Alan Peter Cayetano, however, who insists he remains the Senate president despite Wednesday’s motion declaring all Senate leadership posts vacant, directed Senate officials and personnel to keep the premises open on Thursday.

In a Wednesday night advisory addressed to all Senate officials, Cayetano said “the Office of the Senate President remains fully operational, and the incumbent Senate President continues to hold and exercise the powers, functions, and prerogatives of the said office.”

He said all of the hearings previously scheduled will still proceed and directed all Senate officials “to render their full cooperation and assistance in connection with the said hearing.”

Cayetano ordered Sergeant-at-Arms Manuel G. Parlade to ensure security and orderly conduct of the scheduled blue ribbon committee hearing on Thursday. The Gatchalian-led bloc, however, appointed Police Major General Alfredo Sotto Corpus as the new Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.

The conflicting directives come as Cayetano’s sister, Senator Pia Cayetano, was set to lead the blue ribbon committee’s investigation into alleged corruption in flood control projects.

But Senator Erwin Tulfo, the newly installed blue ribbon committee chairperson, said the hearing is effectively cancelled, arguing that he is now the legitimate head of the panel. The Tulfo-led committee is scheduled to hold its hearing on Monday, June 8 instead.

Pia Cayetano also released an advisory saying that the blue ribbon committee hearing will proceed on Thursday.

Alan Peter Cayetano maintained that the Senate session on Wednesday, June 3 — where lawmakers moved to declare all leadership positions vacant and installed new officers — was invalid. He argued that the blue ribbon panel, still led by his sister Pia, will proceed with its hearing as scheduled. – Rappler.com