Robin Padilla skips Senate special session for movie’s special screening

While majority of his colleagues were inside the Senate premises in Pasay City, heeding the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to hold a special session to tackle urgent measures, Senator Robin Padilla was hundreds of miles away.

His Facebook Live on Wednesday, June 17, indicated that the lawmaker was at a mall in Cebu to promote his action film Bad Boys 3.

He chose to attend a special movie screening over a special session.

“I hope you like the film. We are ready to answer your questions later,” Padilla told the audience of the movie he directed, produced, and starred in, reprising his role “Bumbo.”

Padilla is an ally of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who already gave up his claim to the Senate presidency early Wednesday after the bloc of Senator Win Gatchalian recruited Senator Joel Villanueva. With the Gatchalian bloc now having 13 members, they were able to install him as full-fledged Senate president.

Only 13 out of the 24 senators attended the plenary session in the morning. Senator Jinggoy Estrada is under arrest and suspended due to his plunder case, Senator Bato dela Rosa is hiding because of his active arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, and six out of nine remaining minority senators attended the session only later in the day.

They include senators Pia Cayetano, Bong Go, Loren Legarda, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, and Camille Villar.

Aside from Padilla, Alan Cayetano and Senator Mark Villar also skipped Wednesday’s session.

The ousted Senate president did not give a reason for skipping the proceeding, but insinuated in his statement that it was called by President Marcos to “legitimize [his administration’s] chosen Senate president.”

Had they chosen to attend, they would have had a voice in the deliberations on various bills that failed to hurdle the legislative branch in the past month due to the unprecedented chaos in the upper chamber. These included the establishment of specialized tertiary hospitals for senior citizens, amendments to the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) Act, and amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, among others.

But these minority senators were elsewhere — Padilla was watching a movie — so, really, what matters to these legislators? – Rappler.com