THE IN-FIGHTING IN CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES

The scene in Congress where an in-fighting is undertaking who would be the rightful minority was grotesque and terrible. The protagonists are treating the minority leadership like a piece of meat and a brief and terrifying dip into that big crowd shows one what it's like to be a piece of meat thrown into a room of starving wolves.

ABS party-list Rep. Eugene De Vera asserted he is the rightful minority leader. Quezon 3rd District Rep. Danilo Suarez, who insisted he remained the rightful minority leader even though he voted for Arroyo. The Quimbo-led faction—composed of Liberal Party lawmakers, the Makabayan bloc and the so-called Magnificent 7—declared it is the duly constituted minority.

In the case of Sen. DEFENSOR SANTIAGO, et al. vs. Sen. Guingona, et al., GR. No.- 134577, November 18, 1998, the SC ruled as follows:

The definitions of the terms majority and minority. The majority refers to the group, party, or faction with the larger number of votes. This is sometimes referred to as plurality. In contrast, the minority is with a smaller number of votes. Between two unequal parts or numbers comprising a whole or totality, the greater number would obviously be the majority, while the lesser would be the minority. But where there are more than two unequal groupings, it is not as easy to say which is the minority entitled to select the leader representing all the minorities. In a government with a multi-party system such as in the Philippines, there could be several minority parties. In which case, it is unfortunate that there is No constitutional or statutory provision prescribes which of the many minority groups or the independents or a combination thereof has the right to select the minority leader.

Therefore, [e]ach House shall choose such other officers as it may deem necessary. Such method must be prescribed by the Congress/Senate itself, not by this Court.

Pursuant to the foregoing decision, the House of Representatives would have to rely on its existing rules. If there will be an issue as to their respective interpretations of its rules, each member would have to rely on their respective knowledge of the fundamental ideas, rules, and principles after the repeated pounding of intense discussion, as the metal hammered on the anvil. They need the continuous smelting analysis and synthesis as the molten iron in a Bessemer furnace. Human minds must always be kept well tempered and sharpened as damask swords, ready to decapitate the hydra of error and overthrow the gilded idols from the muddy pedestals of pretense and imposture.