Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday, June 2 disclosed that members of the minority bloc had planned to remove key committees from the majority bloc.

Cayetano, speaking in a Facebook livestream, said this is why the Senate majority bloc, under his leadership, has decided not to show up or convene the session for two days, since Monday, June1.

“Their plan was to eventually remove the committees from the legitimate majority. Why do I say ‘legitimate’ majority? Because in a fully independent Senate, 13 is 13. Even if they are abroad, even if a fugitive, even if they are in detention,” Cayetano said in mix Filipino and English.

“In a democracy, you cannot say, I love democracy, then if you’re in the minority, you want to be in control,” he said.

“If you’re a minority, you have a moral influence to try to influence the majority. But you cannot supplant your decision for the decision of the majority. We have the majority—13 elected senators out of 24,” he pointed out.

“I can show you how they threatened us and I can show you that part of the problem is they threatened to ensure that Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s arrest will also happen to the others. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming the Sandiganbayan or the law or legal processes,” he said.

According to Cayetano, the minority bloc abused the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

“They abused the Blue Ribbon Committee. They abused the investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Ombudsman,” he said.

Cayetano insisted the Senate should remain independent so that the investigation into the flood control anomalies would be done in the interest of public accountability.

“We cannot allow the flood control issue, the biggest corruption issue in our history to go unchecked,” Cayetano said. 

“The questions cannot be answered if we don’t have an independent, impartial hearing,” he said assuring that the Senate blue ribbon probe into the alleged flood control anomalies will push through on Thursday, June 4.

Cayetano went live on Facebook after he and the 10 remaining senators in the majority bloc did not appear again for the second day of the plenary session.

This was after operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) arrested Estrada, who is facing graft and plunder charges in connection to the flood control issue. 

The Senate President also reiterated the Majority’s commitment to an independent and impartial impeachment process guided by evidence and established rules.

"We want an independent impeachment. That will happen sans any scheme or sinister plot. If there’s evidence, the evidence will be out,” he reiterated. 

He said both the prosecution and defense should be allowed to present their respective cases before senator-judges evaluate the evidence.