MANILA — A high school teacher has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to declare that the Senate session held on June 3, 2026, which installed Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore and reorganized chamber leadership, was legally valid and binding.

In a report, it said that in a 20-page petition for certiorari, petitioner Barry Tayam urged the high tribunal to review the actions of Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, and Loren Legarda, and determine whether these constituted “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.”

Tayam argued that the newly installed Senate leadership is facing an institutional challenge, as the Cayetano bloc and Legarda allegedly refuse to recognize its legitimacy and continue to dispute the existence of a quorum during the June 3 session.

He said the dispute has escalated into a constitutional crisis that requires urgent intervention from the Court.

“To prevent the imminent paralyzation of a co-equal branch of government, avoid the chaotic emergence of dual competing Senate leaderships, and resolve this escalating constitutional crisis, I respectfully invoke the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court as the ultimate arbiter of the Constitution to definitively rule on the validity of the chamber’s reorganization,” the petition read.

Tayam asked the SC to declare that the presence of 12 senators during the June 3, 2026 session constituted a valid quorum and that all actions taken during that session—including leadership elections, vacancy declarations, and committee reorganizations—were constitutional and binding.

To recall, 12 senators elected Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore after the Senate reconvened on Wednesday, leading the attending bloc to declare him acting Senate President.

Citing Avelino v. Cuenco, Gatchalian earlier said the Supreme Court recognized that 12 out of 22 senators could constitute a quorum.

During the session, committee leadership changes were also made, including the election of Senator Erwin Tulfo as chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, replacing Senator Pia Cayetano.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, however, maintained that he remains the “legitimate, legal, moral Senate President.”

The Cayetano bloc also proceeded with a separate flood control hearing on Thursday, which the Gatchalian-aligned group described as “bogus.”

During that proceeding, Alan Peter Cayetano administered the oath of the supposed former Marines who alleged they delivered suitcases of cash to several prominent personalities, while Pia Cayetano presided over the hearing.