SC dismisses petition vs. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, other minority senators on quorum issue

The Supreme Court (SC) En Banc on Wednesday (June 10, 2026) dismissed the petition filed by a private citizen against Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and other minority senators related to the quorum issue in the Senate.

John Barry Tayam, a teacher from Las Piñas had filed a petition for certiorari against Cayetano, Senator Sen. Lorna Regina “Loren” Legarda, and Senator Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” S. Cayetano, the SC said in a news release.

The Respicio Law website explains that a “Certiorari is an extraordinary writ used to correct acts by a tribunal, board, or officer exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions which have been done without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion tantamount to lack or excess of jurisdiction.”

Tayam had asked the SC to rule on the controversy in the Senate when 12 senators elected a new Senate President Pro Tempore on June 3, 2026.

Under the Philippine Constitution, the election of Senate officers requires a quorum or a minimum number of senators, to be present during the voting.

On the Respicio Law website, it states: Article VI, Section 16(2): It provides that a quorum in either House of Congress (the Senate or the House of Representatives) shall consist of a majority of each House’s members. Specifically: The Senate: A majority of all its members (24 members in total) is required to form a quorum. This means at least 13 members must be present.

Tayam had petitioned the SC to declare the presence of 12 senators during the June 3, 2026 session of the 20th Congress as a valid quorum.

In his petition, Tayam urged the SC to declare “that the physical presence and assembly of twelve (12) senators during the session of the 20th Congress on June 3, 2026, constituted a legally valid, binding, and constitutional quorum of the active, available membership of the Senate.”

Tayam also asked the SC to “affirm the full legality and constitutional validity of all legislative actions, vacancy declarations, leadership elections, and committee reorganizations executed during the said session.”

However, the SC dismissed Tayam’s petition “for lack of legal standing.”

“The SC ruled that Tayam failed to show that he suffered, or was at imminent risk of suffering, any direct injury from the actions he challenged.

-Paraluman News