Arrest Them

The great legislative game of hide-and-seek has just encountered its ultimate legal final boss.

As the Minority Bloc continues to sweat under the sweltering, un-airconditioned skies of the abandoned Senate chamber, former Solicitor General and constitutional law heavy-hitter Florin Hilbay has just walked onto the field.

Hilbay—a man famous for helping win an international arbitration case against an aggressive superpower—looked at the majority’s ongoing plenary ghosting campaign and decided to read the absolute riot act to Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and his truant allies.

Instead of writing a polite letter or appealing to their sense of national duty, Hilbay pulled out Article VI, Section 16(2) of the Philippine Constitution and essentially yelled: "ARREST THEM!"

In a standard corporate setting, if you don't show up to work because your feelings are hurt or because you need to escort a colleague to a detention center, you get a stern memo from HR.

But under Hilbay’s magnificent, literal reading of the highest law of the land, the minority doesn't need HR—they have the right to form a tactical recovery unit.

[ ARTICLE VI, SECTION 16(2) DETENTION SYSTEM ]

* The Rule: A smaller number of members (The Sweating Minority) may legally compel the attendance of absent members (The Vacationing Majority).

* The Execution: The remaining 11 senators are constitutionally authorized to deputize the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to track down the fugitives.

Imagine the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms storming a premium coffee shop or an exclusive Taguig lifestyle mall, pinning an allied senator to the velvet couch, and shouting: "You have the right to remain legislative! Hand over the iPad! You are being compelled to vote on the national budget immediately!"

The absolute comedy of the situation is that the Majority Bloc spent weeks trying to pass an amendment to allow remote Zoom conferences so their allies could participate from secret bunkers.

Now, in a spectacular twist of poetic justice, Hilbay is pointing out that they might actually get physically escorted into the plenary hall by security forces just to establish a quorum.

-The Majority's Dream - Legislate from a beach in Palawan via an iPhone while the Wi-Fi is cut off for everyone else.

The Hilbay Reality - Being physically tracked down by a constitutional dragnet because you cannot paralyze a sovereign branch of government.

Hilbay has successfully stripped away the sophisticated political terminology of Alan Peter Cayetano's "silent protest."

He exposed it for what it truly is: an expensive, taxpayer-funded skip-day.

You cannot claim to be the majestic "Lawyer-in-Chief" or the leader of the group when a former Solicitor General has to publicly remind the nation that the Constitution contains a specific clause designed to treat you like a high schooler cutting class.

Where exactly does this leave the Senate President’s temper tantrum?

If Erwin Tulfo’s resignation ultimatum didn't make him nervous, Hilbay’s constitutional bounty hunter clause certainly should.

You cannot boast about your elite 12-man structural dominance while running away from the very room where your presence is required by law.

The next time the majority decides to ghost a session, they shouldn't be surprised if the minority stops waiting for the air conditioning to turn back on—and instead sends a patrol car to pick them up for their 3:00 PM roll call.

In the Philippines, the Constitution ensures that, even if you try to put the government on pause, the remaining members always have the legal right to track you down, bring you back to the office, and make you sit in your chair until the work is done.