SC junks petition vs Senate session with 12-member quorum

October 1, 2026

By ABOGADO.COM.PH Staff

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the June 3 Senate session that saw Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano removed as Senate President and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian elected as Senate President Pro-Tempore and acting Senate President, with 12 members declaring a quorum.

The session was held amid a boycott led by the Cayetano bloc.

In an August 26 resolution, the Supreme Court en banc dismissed the petition filed by lawyers Valeriano Loon and Zigfred Diaz, saying it found no grave abuse of discretion.

“The Court resolved to DISMISS the Petition for Certiorari for failure to show sufficiently that the respondents committed grave abuse of discretion in holding a session on June 3, 2026, which, on the contrary, appeared to be in accord with the facts and applicable law and jurisprudence,” it said.

Gatchalian had justified the declaration of a quorum with 12 members present by citing the Supreme Court ruling in the 1949 case Avelino v. Cuenco.

The SC said there was already a Senate majority with 12 senators present because one of the members of the chamber was out of the country and beyond the coercive power of the Senate.

Gatchalian said the quorum of 12 during the session was based on “majority of 22 senators over whom jurisdiction can be obtained by the Senate.”

When the June 3 session was held, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was detained for a non-bailable plunder charge, while the whereabouts of Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, who is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, were unknown.