President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on senators to resume their legislative duties, expressing frustration over stalled Senate sessions and warning that the chamber’s inaction is hampering government operations.
“Get back to work. Get back to work because it’s important, ang dami nating kailangang gawin,” Marcos said during an ambush interview in Manila City.
The President said recent events have thrown the Senate into “disarray,” damaging its credibility and preventing lawmakers from carrying out their primary responsibility of passing legislation.
“I’m afraid whatever all these events that we have been witnessing has thrown the Senate and its leadership, the whole Senate, into disarray. It has discredited the leadership. It stopped the essential business of legislation in government,” he said.
Marcos questioned why the Senate had effectively stopped holding plenary sessions while the Executive and Judicial branches continue to perform their functions.
“Why does the legislature decide to stop working? I don’t understand that,” he said.
The President, a former senator and congressman, stressed that cancelling legislative sessions should only be done for compelling reasons.
“There has to be a very good reason for cancelling a session,” he said, adding that the current situation raises concerns about how the Senate can fulfill its mandate.
The Senate failed to hold a session on Monday after members of the majority bloc skipped proceedings following the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada on plunder charges. Another session was later cancelled, further delaying legislative work.
Marcos warned that continued disruptions could directly affect Filipinos, as pending measures cannot be enacted without Senate action.
“The best description I can have is that the legislature is now in disarray,” he said. “We are trying to achieve some form of stability so that people can get on with their lives, so that people can plan ahead for their future, so that people can count on the assistance of government during this time of an emergency.”
“We cannot do that if the legislature decides to stay at home and have a vacation,” he added.
Asked whether the Executive branch could intervene, Marcos said the administration is studying possible legal and constitutional remedies but emphasized that the Senate remains an independent, co-equal branch of government.
“The Executive is co-equal only to the legislature. We cannot tell them what to do, we cannot punish them for what they are doing. They have to regulate themselves,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos disputed the President’s remarks, saying senators continue to perform their duties through committee hearings and preparations for the impeachment pre-trial process.
“We are continuously working, the committee hearings have persisted and the documents for the pre-trial conference of the impeachment are being processed,” she said. “In fact, we will have a Blue Ribbon Committee hearing tomorrow on the flood control scandal.”
