ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Lacson responds to Cayetano: Debating isn't wrong, but railroading is

Lacson responds to Cayetano: Debating isn't wrong, but railroading is

Published May 30, 2026 02:32 pm

At A Glance

  • Senator Panfilo Lacson clarified that the minority bloc SB-11 supports debating on Senate rules but opposes railroading or "fastbreaking" the process.
  • He stressed that Senator Rodante Marcoleta's motion to allow remote participation was already referred to the Committee on Rules, which must handle such matters under Section 24.
  • Lacson said the majority bloc violated procedure by forcing a plenary vote.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (left), Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson (Facebook)
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (left), Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson (Facebook)


Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson has clarified that the Senate minority--dubbed SB-11 (Solid Bloc 11)--has no problem with debating on the chamber’s rules, only with railroading or "fastbreaking" the process.
"Nothing is wrong about debating on any motion, resolution or measure. What is wrong is ignoring our own rules and parliamentary procedures by stopping the debates to railroad the adoption of a motion already referred to the Committee on Rules," he said on X on Saturday, May 30.
This was Lacson's response to Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who raised in a social media livestream Friday, on whether it is wrong to discuss changes to the rules.
Specifically, Cayetano questioned if it was wrong to change rules, following a heated exchange last Tuesday over Senator Rodante Marcoleta's May 11 motion to amend the rules of the Senate to allow remote participation among members of the chamber.
He also took issue with Lacson and other members of the Senate's minority bloc, whom he accused of misleading their supporters because of their claim that they had no chance to ask questions or explain.
Lacson, who took part in the minority bloc's walkout last May 26, reiterated that the majority bloc tried to force the issue when it moved to tackle and vote in plenary the motion to allow online participation.
He said this runs contrary to the Senate rules and the chamber’s committee system, as Section 24 of the rules – that the committees shall discuss, decide and submit a report on all matters referred to them – applies in the case of Marcoleta’s motion.
Lacson noted the motion was already referred to the Committee on Rules, which remained unconstituted following a leadership change last May 11.
Lacson added Section 136 of the rules, which Cayetano cited as basis for amending the rules through a motion presented at least a day before consideration, does not apply due to the prior referral to the Committee on Rules.
The minority members walked out after Cayetano insisted on dividing the house and putting the matter to a vote.
"We can amend our rules but we must follow the procedure. They wanted to amend the rules fastbreak-style. And we have a committee system. Congress cannot function without the committees," Lacson stressed in a DZBB interview Friday.

Related Tags

Panfilo \"Ping\" Lacson Alan Peter Cayetano Senate rodante marcoleta Online participation SB-11
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.