Tolentino reminds senators: Debate is welcome, but respect and decency must prevail

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]As a former senator and majority leader, how do you feel about the turmoil at the Senate?

[00:00:08]Well, I I'm not always tuned in to what's going on, but I've heard some tensions, so we should recognize the democratic space and the vitality of parliamentary debates, but it should always be anchored on decency and respect.

[00:00:30]Mhm.

[00:00:32]It is It has been said that the Senate is at a very low point, losing the its dignity and the respect that should be accorded to a democratic institution like it.

[00:00:51]Do you agree? Um Well, uh I I probably cannot comment personally because most of them are my friends, but and and they are honorable and respectable gentlemen and ladies, so they should know the ins and outs of uh parliamentary decorum.

[00:01:12]Um Of course, what is the best way to express your disagreement?

[00:01:29]We have rules. Follow the rules.

[00:01:32]You follow the rules, you you respect your colleague.

[00:01:36]Uh as a parliamentarian, you you you you work within the space of uh a decent chamber.

[00:01:48]So, uh I've been chairman of the committee on rules.

[00:01:56]I've been a majority floor leader, so there is a point where you have to stop.

[00:02:07]Uh that's why we have we have a an ethics committee to decide uh on the hang garden.

[00:02:16]Was it really um against the rules to propose an amendment to the rules on the floor even if it had not yet been tackled by the committee itself?

[00:02:31]Well, it has to be processed by the committee.

[00:02:34]But uh the bottom line here is the the legal anchor of I think the utilization of technology.

[00:02:46]Um yeah, I suggest that uh you take a look at the the previous debates during the I think that the 18th Congress where I was at the forefront and I talked about the constitutionality of going on Zoom all of us.

[00:03:07]So, that was during the pandemic stage.

[00:03:10]And I cited specific constitutional provisions.

[00:03:14]Uh even the the notice given to us by the House of Representatives when they transferred their session to Batangas City in aftermath of the Taal volcano eruption.

[00:03:28]So, meron akong mga constitutional anchors noon and nag-agree po sa akin noon uh kung papaano gagamitin yung Zoom and and the technology. May you share with us your Before the the House and the Senate, the house in two different locations, established locations.

[00:03:59]If you transfer to another location, you have to inform the other house.

[00:04:04]The other chamber. So, inform the Senate now.

[00:04:08]And then if you go on Zoom, not I am your We will violate the Constitution.

[00:04:16]Because we have to inform the other chamber every time you go on Zoom.

[00:04:20]And that's not administratively practical. I was sustained. I sustained I think the rules were published.

[00:04:30]That's the reason So, you I think you should you should look at the transcript the debates on how it was formulated and crafted on the basis of the Constitution.

[00:04:45]Because we cannot have 24 Senate.

[00:04:49]So, We should have only one. Can Can I deduce that you are against I'm always on the basis of the Constitution. I I always look at the Constitution as the citadel of whatever parliamentary events would transpire.

[00:05:10]So, look at the Constitution. There is a There is a guidance coming from the Constitution. Follow the Constitution.

[00:05:18]And respect the tradition.

[00:05:22]But I am not against the debates.

[00:05:25]They have all the rights.

[00:05:27]They have all the democratic space.

[00:05:30]They're entitled to do that, but respect and decency should be maintained.