Was the Senate blue ribbon probe staged by Cayetano bloc real or fake?

Was it an official Senate hearing or an unauthorized one?

On Thursday, June 4, senators allied with ousted Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano pushed through with what they called a blue ribbon committee hearing, even as the Senate majority bloc dismissed it as a “bogus hearing” with no basis in Senate rules, calendar, or authority.

In a statement, the majority bloc said the “hearing” convened by Cayetano, Senators Pia Cayetano, Robin Padilla, Imee Marcos, and Rodante Marcoleta was an “unofficial and unauthorized gathering.”

“What we are seeing is a naked grab for power dressed up as ‘inquiry’ and ‘oversight.’ It is nothing more than a self-serving spectacle meant to cling to positions they have already lost in a valid and constitutional reorganization of the Senate,” the bloc said.

The dispute unfolded amid a continuing Senate leadership dispute.

Alan Cayetano claimed he still has control of the Senate, while newly-installed Senate President Pro Tempore Win Gatchalian said otherwise.

On Wednesday evening, June 4, Gatchalian ordered Senate offices to shift to a work-from-home arrangement. In a subsequent advisory, he allowed on-site employees to leave by 10 am, citing the absence of any “official business scheduled” at the Senate.

Despite this, Senator Pia Cayetano proceeded with a blue ribbon committee hearing on flood control corruption. The move came a day after she was removed as committee chair and replaced by Senator Erwin Tulfo, who had scheduled the next official hearing on June 8.

Although Pia Cayetano initially presided over the proceedings, she later allowed Senator Rodante Marcoleta to take over chairing duties. She then proceeded with a separate hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which she still chairs.

Unusual signs added to questions over whether the hearing was official.

While the Senate website had listed a flood control hearing at 10 am, the event was later canceled. It was also not livestreamed on the Senate’s official YouTube channel.

There was no registration table for resource persons, unlike in previous blue ribbon hearings.

With only a “small” number of staff present, Alan himself administered the oath to 18 former Marines and their legal counsel. These individuals were the supposed resource persons of Senator Pia.

Administering an oath is a task typically handled by the committee secretariat in formal hearings.

The Gatchalian bloc also condemned what it described as veiled threats from Cayetano against Senate employees who might refuse to cooperate with the proceedings.

“These are civil servants who are simply trying to do their jobs under the duly constituted leadership of the Senate,” the Gatchalian bloc said.

Regardless of its legitimacy — or whether the proceedings will ultimately form part of the Senate’s official records — the gathering organized by the Cayetano bloc on Thursday became a platform for attacking the Marcos administration and opposition figures who have been among the Duterte family’s most vocal critics, while amplifying allegations of corruption against them. – Rappler.com