Alan Peter Cayetano faces resignation calls

Philippine opposition senators escalated a standoff in the Senate on Tuesday by calling on Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to resign after the chamber failed to hold plenary sessions for a second straight day. The demand came from the 11-member minority bloc after only its members appeared at the scheduled 3 p.m. session in Pasay City, according to ABS-CBN and Inquirer reports. Senate Secretary Jose Luis Montales was told by Cayetano that the majority bloc would not attend, ABS-CBN reported. The resignation calls moved the dispute beyond social-media criticism and into a formal position by sitting senators. The minority framed the issue as a rules and leadership fight inside the chamber, not just a political attack on Cayetano. Cayetano’s official website, which lists him as Senate president, separately showed a May 29 announcement that the Blue Ribbon Committee would resume a flood-control probe on June 4. (abs-cbn.com) ### Who is demanding that Cayetano step down? The 11-member Senate minority bloc publicly asked Cayetano to resign on June 2. ABS-CBN reported that Senators Francis Pangilinan, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros and Erwin Tulfo were among those involved in the minority’s response after the second no-show. Erwin Tulfo said in a statement carried by ABS-CBN that “what happened today was a clear abandonment of responsibility, dereliction of duty, blatant disregard of the rules that govern this institution.” The minority also said Cayetano “should resign” because he could no longer function as Senate leader, according to Inquirer and Manila Bulletin reports. (abs-cbn.com) ### What triggered the resignation calls this week? Tuesday’s confrontation followed two consecutive days without a plenary session because the majority bloc did not appear. ABS-CBN reported that only minority senators were present at the expected start of proceedings, and that around 20 minutes later Montales relayed Cayetano’s message that the majority would not be coming. (abs-cbn.com) The minority said the Senate president can suspend session only after consultation with both majority and minority leaders. Tulfo told reporters the failure to proceed was “not merely a procedural lapse” but “a direct violation of the rules of the Senate,” according to ABS-CBN. Manila Times and Manila Bulletin separately reported that the bloc described the episode as “dereliction of duty.” (abs-cbn.com) ### Why is Cayetano at the center of the dispute? Alan Peter Cayetano became Senate president on May 11 after senators voted 13-9-2 to replace Vicente Sotto III, according to Manila Bulletin and ABS-CBN. His elevation came amid broader tensions over Senate procedure and the chamber’s handling of politically sensitive matters. Cayetano’s own website on May 31 said he had rejected allegations by the Senate minority linking a proposed rules change to the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte. (abs-cbn.com) That shows the dispute over procedure had already been building before the June 2 resignation demand. ### Did the calls start only on social media? A June 1-2 wave of posts on X amplified demands for accountability and helped push the issue into wider public view, including posts by opposition figures cited in social coverage. (mb.com.ph) By Tuesday afternoon, however, the call had been adopted in formal statements and press briefings by senators inside the chamber, according to ABS-CBN, Inquirer and Manila Bulletin. (alanpetercayetano.com) The formalization matters because it ties the online criticism to named lawmakers and a specific procedural dispute: two missed plenary sessions and the minority’s claim that Senate rules were bypassed. Those are the allegations now attached to Cayetano in published reports. ### What happens next in the Senate? June 4 is the next dated item publicly listed on Cayetano’s official site: the resumption of the Blue Ribbon Committee’s flood-control probe. (abs-cbn.com) Whether the Senate resumes normal plenary work before or after that hearing was not clear in the reports available on Tuesday. Any further escalation would likely come through another scheduled session, a formal minority filing, or a public response from Cayetano or the majority bloc. (abs-cbn.com) As of Tuesday evening, published reports focused on the minority’s demand for his resignation and the second straight no-show at the Senate floor. (alanpetercayetano.com)