Generally, the Senate of the Philippines needs a majority of its members to form a quorum.
Since the Senate has 24 senators, that usually means 13 senators are required under Article VI, Section 16(2) of the 1987 Constitution.
However, there is an important exception based on the Supreme Court case Avelino vs. Cuenco. In that ruling, the Court said that if some senators are effectively unavailable or beyond the chamber’s coercive authority (for example detained, abroad, or otherwise unable to attend), they may not be counted in determining the quorum.
In this case - 2 senators are already unavailable: Sen Bato who is currently in hiding and Sen Jinggoy who is in custody.
Nakakahiya na hindi mo ‘to alam 🤦🏻♀️
You cannot invoke the Constitution only when it is convenient.
When you prevent the Senate from functioning as mandated by the Constitution, you violate the Constitution.
When you refuse to convene the Senate for three consecutive days, you violate the Constitution.
Do not dare ask to be rescued by the very Constitution you violated.
Excuse me, Sen. Robin. Huwag nyo nga akong gamitin sa baluktot nyong naratibo. Acquitted na ako sa hinarap kong mga gawa-gawang kaso. Napakalayo ng sitwasyon ko sa pinasakay mong fugitive from justice na si Sen. Bato.
Saka neutralizing drug lords talaga? Sabihin nya yan sa pamilya ng libo-libong biktima ng EJK. Ipaliwanag nya yan sa ICC.
The @Chinaembmanila has now spent four posts attacking me as Mr. Jay Tarriela. When the facts are on your side, you do not write essays against the person stating them — you correct the record. Evidently, China cannot, so it attacks the messenger instead.
On the bridges, vaccines, and aid: no one denies they were given, and Filipinos are not ungrateful. But development assistance is not a receipt that entitles the giver to violate another nation’s sovereign rights. A neighbor who builds you a bridge and then blocks your fishermen from waters lawfully theirs is not a friend. Generosity in one domain does not buy impunity in another. Sovereignty is not for sale.
On the 2016 Arbitral Award: the Embassy calls it “null and void,” yet it was rendered under UNCLOS — a treaty China voluntarily ratified in 1996. The Tribunal settled its jurisdiction in 2015 before reaching the merits in 2016, and under Annex VII, the Award is final and binding on both parties. A State cannot ratify a treaty, accept its dispute mechanism, lose, and then declare the result illegal. That is not a legal argument.
On the claim that “no country claims the entire South China Sea”: this is wordplay, not law. The Tribunal found China’s nine-dash-line assertion of “historic rights” had no legal basis under UNCLOS. Rebranding it as “Nanhai Zhudao and adjacent waters” does not relegalize a claim that has already been rejected.
And the point that matters most: no volume of vaccines, no number of bridges, and no press release changes what our fishermen see at Bajo de Masinloc — water cannons, dangerous maneuvers, military-grade lasers, and obstruction within our own exclusive economic zone. These are not “rescues.” You cannot harass a fisherman in his own waters and then claim to be saving him.
My statements need no scary music. The coordinates speak for themselves. The footage is not storytelling; it is evidence. China’s presence in the West Philippine Sea remains illegal under the very Convention it signed — and no amount of public relations will change that!
So this rat refuses to apologize for what it did.
This rat doesn't really get it. Filipinos are angry because our freedom of expression in our own country was violated by a foreigner. The audacity of talking about humanity when their kind does inhumane things to Palestinians!
'THE SENATE AS AN INSTITUTION MUST STAND ABOVE FACTIONAL INTERESTS'
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Thursday issued a statement on the recent shooting incident in the Senate on Wednesday night.
"We caution against any forces exploiting this chaos to manufacture a crisis or provoke a constitutional breakdown for selfish political gain," the IBP said.
The group likewise called on the Senate to "perform forthwith its constitutional duties," and said that it will trust the Supreme Court to review any constitutionally-violative actions.
Someone has to be made accountable for Bato’s escape.
No less than the DILG Secretary and PNP Chief entered the senate building last night to secure the senators.
The public was assured last night Bato was in the “5th foor, in his room, resting”. Bato’s lawyer showed a video last night of Bato supposedly in the senate.
The senate building should’ve been secured last night - no one in, no one out.
We need answers. How did Bato escape? Who helped him?
"Kasi kung ordinaryong tao po yan, lulusubin po ng mga awtoridad ang bahay niyan para i-serve ang warrant of arrest. At ang sinumang haharang ay obstruction of justice po ang kakaharapin"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHERE'S THE LIE?????????
Meralco completely missed my point. Hindi ko kinekuwestiyon kung legal na singilin sa consumers ang "pass through costs"—ang tanong ko ay kung makatarungan ba ito.
Kumita ang Meralco ng ₱50 billion noong 2025 at ₱11 billion sa first quarter pa lang ng 2026, habang hirap na hirap ang mga ordinaryong consumers at taxpayers. Barya lang sa kanila ang Lifeline Rate. Puwede nila itong ibawas sa kita, over-recoveries, o allowed returns ng distribution utilities.
Hindi ordinaryong negosyo ang Meralco. Isa itong regulated monopoly na may prangkisang ipinagkaloob ng Kongreso. Kung ayaw nilang suklian ang pribilehiyong ito, panahon na para suriin ang Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) at ang rules ng Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) para masiguro na ang sistema ng kuryente ay hindi lang legal, kundi patas at para sa kapakanan ng taumbayan.
Longest retractable LED scroll used in a solo concert - 110 m (360 ft 10 in) ✨🕺
Pop star @layzhang of @weareoneEXO performed on this spectacular scroll during his Beijing concert on 6-7 October 2025
That's us! 🌍
The Artemis II crew captured beautiful, high-resolution images of our home planet during their journey to the Moon. As @Astro_Christina put it: "You guys look great."
Jasmine Curtis-Smith did NOT stutter
What happened today is bigger than Anne Curtis. What happened today is a reminder why women’s month had to exist 😞
The fact that there is no remorse, no clue as to why what he said was offensive and inappropriate, and even commented in an interview that "she should take my remark as a compliment" is what makes this disgusting comment even more disgusting.