MANILA, Philippines – The issue on Senate quorum reached the Supreme Court (SC) after a high school teacher filed a petition on Friday, June 5, asking the High Court to uphold the legality of the quorum of 12, as well as the Senate’s June 3 session.

“Declare that the physical presence and assembly of twelve (12) senators during the session of the 20th Congress on June 3, 2026, constituted a legally valid, binding, and constitutional quorum of the active, available membership of the Senate,” said John Barry Tayam in his 20-page petition for certiorari.

A petition for certiorari, found under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, is used to look for grave abuse of discretion in a decision or act done by a body. It’s often filed by an aggrieved party to reverse a body or court’s decision.

“Affirm the full legality and constitutional validity of all legislative actions, vacancy declarations, leadership elections, and committee reorganizations executed during the said session,” Tayam asked the SC in his petition.

The Senate was rendered paralyzed after the then-majority led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano skipped sessions to avoid reaching 12, or the minimum number of senators present to do official business.

On June 3, the Senate finally reached its required number to function when Senator Chiz Escudero appeared at the upper chamber to join the then-minority bloc in the session. Since there was a quorum, the senators moved to declare all positions vacant and elected Senator Win Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore (in essence, acting Senate president), and the new chairpersons of committees.

Their basis was the 1949 Supreme Court (SC) case of Avelino v. Cuenco, where the High Court ruled that the quorum 12, during a Senate session on February 21, 1949, was valid. The High Court said in the decision that at the time, 12 was enough to reach a quorum because the available senators then were only 23, not 24.

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Further, the SC said the wording “majority of each House” in the Constitution to reach a quorum does not mean “all” the members. So by computing the required number to reach a quorum, the Senate looks into the number of available members, not all of its members.

Since International Criminal Court suspect Senator Bato dela Rosa is in hiding, and Senator Jinggoy Estrada is detained due to his plunder case, the available members were only 22. Half of 22 is 11, so 12 is already considered a majority.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and law school deans confirmed in a statement that the June 3 quorum and the actions taken there by the senators were valid. The IBP is the official and mandatory organization for Filipino lawyers.

“So dito, sa prayer lang po natin dito, ina-ask ko lang po ‘yong Supreme Court kung valid ba ‘yong quorum o hindi. Kasi nagkakagulo eh, pati ‘yong mga tao sa social media, pati ‘yong ibang mga legal expert, nakakagulo sila. Nasa Supreme Court naman ‘yong final say,” said Tayam.

(Here in our prayer, we’re asking the Supreme Court to rule on the validity of the quorum. Because people in social media are divided, even the legal experts. The Supreme Court has the final say.) – Rappler.com