Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto – Photo from Vicente Tito Sotto/Facebook
Senator Tito Sotto said Thursday the Supreme Court ruling dismissing a petition on the Senate leadership dispute should not be interpreted as a win for any faction in the chamber.
Sotto said some people had misunderstood the decision, noting that the high court merely found no basis to take up the petition because it was not justiciable.
His remarks came after the Supreme Court en banc dismissed the petition filed by high school teacher Barry Tayam against Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, and Loren Legarda.
The petition had asked the tribunal to recognize the presence of 12 senators during the June 3 session of the 20th Congress as a valid quorum.
The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the case for lack of legal standing, finding that Tayam failed to show any direct injury or imminent harm from the actions he challenged.
After the decision was released, supporters of the Cayetano-led bloc claimed online that the ruling favored their position in the Senate presidency dispute.
Sotto rejected that interpretation and said some quarters were trying to mislead the public into believing that the June 3 quorum of 12 senators out of 23 was invalid.
The leadership row stemmed from the June 3 session, when the election of Senate officers led to competing claims over control of the chamber. The Supreme Court did not rule on the validity of the quorum or the actions taken that day, limiting its decision to Tayam’s lack of standing.
