Senate leaders on Friday said the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a challenge to the June 3 session reinforced the legal basis used by 12 senators to reorganize the chamber and countered claims that the proceedings constituted a “rump Senate.”

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the SC resolution was consistent with their position that the chamber had sufficient legal basis to convene despite questions over the quorum.

“We were certain then and it is now validated by the Supreme Court that we stood on solid legal ground,” Lacson said.

In an Aug. 26 resolution made public this week, the SC en banc dismissed the petition filed by lawyers Valeriano Loon and Zigfred Diaz, saying they failed to sufficiently show grave abuse of discretion in holding the session.

The Court said the June 3 proceedings appeared to be “in accord with the facts and applicable law and jurisprudence.”

Gatchalian said the ruling answered questions raised over the authority exercised by the senators who convened that day.

“The proceedings of that day were likewise conducted in keeping with the established rules and precedents of the Senate,” he said.

The June 3 session ended a two-day impasse after Sen. Francis Escudero joined 11 members of the bloc opposed to then Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, bringing attendance to 12.

Lacson said they relied on the 1949 Avelino v. Cuenco ruling in determining the quorum from a base of 22 senators instead of the chamber’s full 24-member composition.

At the time, Senators Ronald dela Rosa and Jinggoy Estrada were considered beyond the Senate’s “coercive power,” leaving 22 members from which a majority could be determined, according to Lacson.

The senators subsequently declared the chamber’s elective positions vacant, elected Gatchalian Senate President Pro Tempore and designated him acting presiding officer.

They stopped short, however, of electing Gatchalian as Senate President at that time.

“We didn’t elect him as SP because the Constitution was clear that we needed at least 13 members to elect but not to remove a sitting Senate President,” Lacson said.

Gatchalian said convening the chamber was necessary to prevent the Senate from being unable to function.

“The resolution is consistent with what we have maintained from the start: on June 3, the Senate convened in accordance with the Constitution and established jurisprudence,” he said.

Gatchalian was eventually elected Senate President during the June 17 special session when 13 senators were present.

“That responsibility belongs to every member, and the Senate will continue to carry it out as one institution,” Gatchalian said. (PNA) | (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)