Senator Alan Peter Cayetano remains the legitimate Senate President of the 20th Congress, and the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the billion-peso flood control scam will push through tomorrow, June 4.
“Tomorrow, tuloy ang hearing ng Blue Ribbon Committee. I am still the legitimate, legal, moral Senate President of the Republic of the Philippines. There are still functioning committees,” Cayetano announced in a Facebook livestream after the supposed “session” on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
The lawyer-senator made the official statement after 12 senators appeared in session that afternoon and moved to declare all Senate positions vacant in an attempt to oust Cayetano as Senate President.
Reading the Senate Rules out loud, Cayetano explained how the ouster attempt was “illegal.”
He cited Rules 1 and 2 of the Senate that there should be a “majority vote of all its Members,” or 13 out of 24 senators, to elect the Senate President and the Senate President Pro Tempore.
“Hindi po sila makaka-elect ng new Senate President dahil wala po silang 13 [kanina],” Cayetano said. “‘Pag may 13 po sila, ako pa mago-oath sa kanila.”
Neither can their supposed new Senate President Pro Tempore serve as Acting President, he added, because under Section 4, the sitting Senate President’s “resignation, removal, death or absolute incapacity” is required.
“Removal: hindi po nila ako naalis. Death: buhay pa naman po ako. Absolute incapacity: siguro naman po nakikita niyo nakakapag-isip po ako, nakakapagsalita po ako. So wala pong ground para magkaroon ng acting president,” he said.
Cayetano lamented how the move was meant to take control of the Senate premises and prevent the Blue Ribbon Committee from holding its hearing.
“Gusto nilang i-control ang premises ng Senado at gusto po nilang hindi mag-hearing ang Blue Ribbon Committee,” he said.
He pointed out how the 12 senators claimed they held the session because Senate work had supposedly been stalled while their actions showed otherwise.
“Sabi nila, ginawa nila ito kasi naipit ang trabaho. Pero wala naman po silang ginawa ngayon kung hindi baguhin ang mga committee para walang Blue Ribbon Committee hearing bukas. Para hindi maimbitahan ang labing walong Marines. Pinalitan nila ang presiding officer,” he said.
Cayetano said the hearing will proceed under its legitimate chairmanship because the public deserves to hear the testimonies on the alleged billion-peso flood control scam.
“We have to hear the testimonies. We need to investigate the flood control scam in a very impartial way that will be satisfactory to all our people,” he said.
“Invited po pati po y’ung mga gumawa ng ilegal [coup d’etat] ngayon. You can try to stop us, but you will be stopping the Filipino people,” he added.