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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sherwin Gatchalian elected as Senate President Pro Tempore, now acting Senate President

Sherwin Gatchalian elected as Senate President Pro Tempore, now acting Senate President

Published Jun 3, 2026 04:44 pm

At A Glance

  • Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has been elected as the new Senate President Pro Tempore and is now acting as the Senate President in the absence of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian (Photo from Senator Gatchalian's Facebook page)
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian (Photo from Senator Gatchalian's Facebook page)

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has been elected as the new Senate President Pro Tempore and is now acting as the Senate President.

This, after 12 senators made the move to finally convene the Senate after two days of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano-led group’s boycott. 

Gatchalian, replaced Sen. Loren Legarda. He presided over the session on Wednesday, June 3, the last day of the Senate’s plenary session before it goes on sine die adjournment.

The twelve senators gained a simple majority, after Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, an ally of Cayetano, attended the session and provided the quorum.

This is amid the detention of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s “escape” from an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

It was Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III who motioned to vacate all leadership roles except for the Senate presidency before nominating Gatchalian as a Senate President Pro Tempore. 

As Senate President Pro Tempore, Gatchalian may preside over sessions in the absence of Cayetano.

Wednesday’s shake up in the Senate now paved the way for the creation of a new majority now composed of Gatchalian, Sotto, Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Risa Hontiveros, Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Manuel “Lito” Lapid, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Raffy and Erwin Tulfo and Escudero. 

Before formally adjourning the session, Gatchalian clarified that they were compelled to call the session to order today since the Senate session was scheduled to resume on, Monday, June 1, 2026 and on Tuesday June 2, 2026 but the Senate President failed to appear in both instances.

“Further, Article VI, Section 16(5) of the Constitution provides that neither House shall, during sessions of Congress, adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other House. The Senate has been adjourned and unable to resume session for the past two days, placing us on the brink of a Constitutional violation had we not convened today,” Gatchalian explained.

“Thus, in the absence of a duly consulted postponement and the continued absence of the Senate President, Senate President Pro Tempore and members of the majority, we were compelled to call the session to order,” he stressed.

He said the quorum of 12 is based on a majority of twenty-two (22) senators over whom jurisdiction can be obtained by the Senate. 

“This is in full accord with the ruling of the Court in Avelino v. Cuenco,¹ that an absolute majority of 12 out of 23 members² can constitute a constitutional majority of the Senate for quorum purposes; and with precedent, specifically the May 5, 2015 Session where the quorum was based on seventeen (17) available senators, with seven (7) others beyond the Senate’s coercive jurisdiction,” Gatchalian said.

Related Tags

SENATE Senate leadership change Sherwin Gatchalian
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