Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano further amplified claims that Senator Jinggoy Estrada had raised concerns over alleged political pressure and bargaining within the Senate, saying the matter had reportedly persisted since February and was linked to shifting bloc alignments.
In a livestreamed statement on Tuesday, June 2, Cayetano said Estrada had previously expressed unease over what he described as internal negotiations and pressure tied to changes in majority-minority configurations.
He said these concerns were not isolated incidents but part of a continuing pattern of tension inside the chamber.
Cayetano alleged that the pressure he was referring to was connected to efforts to influence voting behavior and committee control, amid ongoing disputes over Senate leadership alignments.
The Senate leader said Estrada had indicated that the issue was not limited to recent developments, adding that similar dynamics were already present as early as February, during earlier realignments in Senate blocs.
“Bakit nila alam yung timing sa kulong? Sinabi ni Sen. Jinggoy, hindi lang ngayon nangyari sa kanya yan, since February,” Cayetano said. “Wala na daw kaso pag siya po ay sumunod sa kanila (minority). In this case, lumipat.”
Cayetano also claimed that internal disagreements over rules, committee assignments, and voting blocs had intensified following recent walkouts and session disruptions, contributing to quorum issues and stalled plenary proceedings.
He reiterated that Estrada would, in what he called a “next chapter,” provide further explanation, and insisted that his account was based on firsthand awareness of conversations rather than secondhand reports.
“Hindi hearsay sa akin to dahil napakinggan ko yung ilan nilang conversation,” he said. “So alam ko for a fact na totoo na binabargain ang kanyang kaso mabalik lang ang majority sa ngayon na 11 o minority.”
Meanwhile, Estrada is currently detained at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas after voluntarily surrendering on Monday, June 1, to face an arrest warrant in connection with a plunder case linked to alleged irregularities in flood control projects.
In response, the Minority bloc has called for the resignation of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, accusing him of abandoning his duties and violating Senate rules following repeated disruptions in plenary sessions, including multiple no-shows by the majority bloc this week.
