Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano says Sen. Mark Villar remains part of the minority bloc, despite a vote that differed from the minority during the impeachment proceedings for Vice President Sara Duterte. Cayetano points to Villar’s decision not to vote with the minority in the impeachment court last Wednesday.
According to the accounts, Villar voted with the majority in opposing Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s ruling that the denominator for determining the conviction threshold is 16. Earlier, Cayetano and the minority—including Sens. Camille Villar, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Christopher “Bong” Go, and Robin Padilla—boycotted the floor division when the threshold was first determined. The outlets frame Cayetano’s remarks as clarification that Villar’s vote is treated within the minority’s broader alignment, rather than as a break from the bloc.
