MANILA, Philippines – Hinamon ni Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano nitong Lunes ang 11 miyembro ng Minority bloc o tinaguriang Solid Bloc 11 (SB11) na ipagtanggol ang kalayaan ng Senado at huwag hayaang maimpluwensiyahan ng pulitika ang direksyon ng institusyon.
“To my colleagues in the Minority: The Senate is a co-equal branch of government. It is not a prize to be claimed by anyone. Events of the past few days may have blurred this distinction, but what happened with one of our colleagues today brings it sharply back into focus,” pahayag ni Cayetano sa isang Facebook post nitong Hunyo 1, 2026.
“So, I put one question to you, not as the Majority but as the chamber: will you stand for the Senate’s independence?” dagdag niya.
Ipinahayag ito ni Cayetano matapos maglabas ang Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ng warrant of arrest laban kay Senador Jinggoy Estrada, isang miyembro ng Majority bloc, dahil sa mga kasong plunder at graft kaugnay ng umano’y pagkakasangkot niya sa flood control scam.
Bago siya boluntaryong sumuko sa Camp Crame, ibinunyag ni Estrada sa isang press conference na ginamit umano ang mga kaso laban sa kanya upang pilitin siyang umalis sa Majority bloc at lumipat sa Minority, isang alok na kanyang tinanggihan.
Sa kaniyang pahayag, binigyang diin ni Cayetano sa mga kapwa senador na “own business to settle” ng Senado ang usapin ng liderato nito, at dapat managot lang ang institusyon “to God and the people who sent us here, and to no one outside these walls.”
“That we differ on the leadership of the Senate is not in question. And it is a fair point of discussion. But no matter our disagreements, we must all agree that it is the Senate’s own business to settle,” diin niya.
Nanawagan si Cayetano sa Minority bloc na makiisa sa Senado sa pagtatanggol ng kalayaan nito.
“I am asking you to join one deliberate act — to let the Senate go quiet, together and by choice, so the country is made to ask why a co-equal branch would fall silent rather than be made to serve,” aniya.
“The door is open. What you do with it is yours to answer — to this institution, and to the people watching it,” dagdag niya. Ernie Reyes
