MANILA. Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, urged all senators to attend the special session called by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on June 17, emphasizing that the one-day event should be used to act on long-pending bills and appointments.
Gatchalian stressed that senators from both the majority and minority blocs should participate in the session to help Congress pass urgent legislation and tackle matters in the Commission on Appointments (CA), including the confirmation of five military generals.
“For me, it is important that we approve all of these bills and not waste this special session because this is our opportunity to finish everything that has been pending, which is why it’s important for our senators to attend,” he said in a chance interview.
He added that further delays in approving military appointments could affect the ability of the concerned officials to fully perform their duties.
Gatchalian said he has coordinated with the leadership of the House of Representatives, noting that Speaker Bojie Dy III assured the attendance of House members to the CA.
The special session is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m., break at 11:00 a.m. for the CA meeting, resume in the afternoon, and end between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The call for attendance comes as Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and his allied senators asked the Supreme Court to declare void the Senate session on June 3 that appointed Gatchalian as acting Senate president, citing a lack of quorum required by the Constitution.
In a petition for certiorari and prohibition, the Cayetano group said only 12 senators attended when the session was called, the leadership was reorganized, committee chairmanships were changed, and impeachment rules were amended.
