Deputy Speaker La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V corrected his colleague, SAGiP Party-list Rep. Paolo Marcoleta on Friday, May 29 regarding the latter 's claim that virtual voting had always been permitted in the House of Representatives. Ortega gave context to this emergency-based...
Ranking House members have expressed their reservations about the online participation rule that 's being pushed by the new Senate majority particularly in view of the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Giving their two cents on the matter Wednesday, May 27 are...
Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, on Wednesday, May 27, said the minority bloc may elevate to the Supreme Court (SC) its objections to the proposed Senate rule change on allowing online participation in the chamber’s proceedings. “If we are not able to stop it,” Sotto said...
Senator Risa Hontiveros, on Wednesday, May 27, rejected comparisons between the Senate majority’s current push for videoconferencing in Senate proceedings and a 2021 appeal that sought former senator Leila de Lima 's participation while she was detained. In a statement, Hontiveros said the...
Senator Rodante Marcoleta denied accusations that the majority bloc was railroading a proposed amendment to the rules that would allow online participation in Senate proceedings, following a walkout staged by minority senators during plenary debates. Speaking to reporters after plenary session on...
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday, May 27 criticized what he described as a “condescending” remark directed at Senator Risa Hontiveros during a heated clash over a motion allowing online participation in plenary proceedings. In a post on X, Lacson took issue with a fellow...
Members of the minority bloc walked out towards the end of the plenary session on Tuesday, May 26, after a tense argument over the proposal of Senator Rodante Marcoleta to amend the Senate rules and allow senators to participate in plenary sessions online. It was Marcoleta who proposed the...
The Sandiganbayan’s Seventh Division on Tuesday afternoon, May 26, issued a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against Senator Rodante Marcoleta, former lawmaker Michael “Mike” Defensor, Aristotle Baluyut Viray, and Joseph Varias Espiritu. A PHDO is a court order that prohibits a...
The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) on Tuesday, May 26, argued before the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division that Senator Rodante Marcoleta, former lawmaker Michael “Mike” Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Varias Espiritu and Aristotle Baluyut Viray should be barred from leaving the country pending...
Senators Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta were elected as vice chairpersons of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. The panel, now chaired by Senator Pia Cayetano, has yet to conclude its investigation into the anomalous flood control projects that allegedly involved former and...
Senator Rodante Marcoleta, on Monday, May 25, denounced what he described as a politically motivated complaint filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman, adding that the case was intended to intimidate independent voices in the Senate. In a privilege speech, Marcoleta said the complaint...
The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has sought the issuance of Precautionary Hold Departure Orders (PHDOs) against Senator Rodante Marcoleta, former lawmaker Michael “Mike” Defensor, and two other individuals before the Sandiganbayan. A PHDO is a court order that prohibits a respondent facing a...
