Members of the Senate minority bloc, the so-called Solid Bloc 11, slammed the majority bloc headed by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano for leaving important measures hanging when it decided to boycott the plenary session on Monday, June 1 after Senator Jinggoy Estrada surrendered to authorities hours before the plenary session was supposed to start.

Cayetano earlier pushed back the opening of Monday’s session from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. but hours after operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) arrested Estrada, not one of the members of the majority were seen at the session hall.

Only the 11 senators of the minority group were seen waiting patiently at their respective desks.

In a formal statement, the Solid Bloc 11, led by Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, criticized their colleagues' actions noting they didn’t even had the courtesy of informing the minority bloc they would not be convening.

“The Solid Bloc 11 minority senators were present today for the 5 p.m. resumption of session, ready to work, ready to vote on pending bills and ready to keep the Senate running, but the majority led by SP Cayetano chose not to show up,” the Solid Bloc-11 said in a statement released to the Senate media.

“They did not even have the courtesy to inform us when they ignored the rules, and could not extend the basic decency of telling the minority that they had no intention of convening,” they said.

“Let us focus on the work, because the Senate has serious business before it, and if the majority wants to protest, deliver privilege speeches or defend its position, the proper place to do that is on the floor, not by making the chamber stand still,” the group added.

As far as they are concerned, the minority bloc said the Senate does not belong to a single gavel holder, as it is an institution of the people. Moreover, many important bills are being held up “because of the drama of the majority.”

“Important measures were left hanging because of the majority’s boycott, including the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, the Anti-Hospital Detention Bill, the confirmation of generals before the Commission on Appointments and the bills granting Philippine citizenship to Bennie Boatwright III and Matthew James Ramos.

“Let us call this for what it is: the claim that this is about Senate independence is false, because what happened today was about the rule of law, public accountability and a lawful process before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan that no senator, no bloc and no presiding officer controls,” the minority group stressed.

“This is a boycott because of the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and the public should not be asked to believe another convenient line from a leadership that has repeatedly twisted the truth,” they also said.

“Today was a step toward accountability in a controversy that the public has long demanded action on, and after years of people asking why nothing was happening in flood control investigations, it is unacceptable to suddenly call the rule of law an attack on the Senate,” they reiterated.

The minority bloc, which has been vocal about their plan to effect another change in the Senate leadership in order to restore the Upper Chamber’s dignity and respect, also questioned if Cayetano is now also questioning the rule of law.

"Is Senate President Alan Cayetano now questioning the rule of law?" 

“Sa totoo lang, ang gusto nila ay kampihan, hindi prinsipyo. Gusto nila sumama kami sa boycott, patahimikin ang Senado at gamitin ang minority para manatili ang Senate President sa puwesto habang iniiwasan ang tunay na test of numbers sa floor (In reality, what they want is to create factions, not principle. They want us to join the boycott, silence the Senate, and use the minority to keep the Senate President in office while avoiding the real test of numbers on the floor),” they pointed out.

“This may be the first time in decades that Senate work stopped because the presiding officer himself refused to work, because even during typhoons and the height of the pandemic, work was suspended only because of necessity or because systems still had to be set up, not because the leadership chose a boycott of duty,” the minority bloc also lamented.

The Senate minority bloc also said the public has every right to ask whether the Senate President is repeating what he did in the House of Representatives, when questions were raised about a leader refusing to step aside, refusing to convene and holding up proceedings when the numbers were no longer certain.

“The question now is just as serious: will they do this again for the next two session days, and will they keep the Senate idle simply to avoid facing the numbers on the floor?” they pointed out.

“The Senate should open its doors, call the session to order and return to work, because no Facebook post, no appeal to institutional pride and no political drama can erase the basic duty of senators to show up, follow the law and serve the people,” the minority senators said.

“And lastly, we call on the Filipino people to watch the Senate closely, because when an institution refuses to work, public vigilance becomes the people’s first line of defense,” they said.

The Senate is set to adjourn on June 5, but the last day of the chamber’s plenary session would be on Wednesday, June 3.

The Senate will go on a sine die adjournment from June 6 to July 26 and will resume sessions on July 27, 2026 in time for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).