Jose Avelino was the President of the Senate.

One day, Senator Lorenzo Tañada announced that he intended to deliver a privilege speech and present charges against Avelino. Before the next session, Tañada and Senator Prospero Sanidad formally filed a resolution seeking an investigation of the Senate President.

When the Senate convened, a quorum was already present.

Avelino, however, delayed opening the session. When he finally took the rostrum, he spent time reading the resolution filed against him. As the session proceeded, motions that were normally approved without objection were opposed. Senator Tañada repeatedly attempted to claim the floor for his privilege speech, but the Chair refused to recognize him.

Then things became more chaotic.

A motion to adjourn was introduced. Other senators opposed it and demanded that it be put to a vote. Amid the commotion, Avelino suddenly banged the gavel, abandoned the Chair, and hurriedly left the session hall. Several senators followed him out.

The remaining senators stayed.

Senate President Pro Tempore Melencio Arranz took the Chair and continued the session. Senator Tañada finally delivered his speech. The Senate adopted a resolution ordering an investigation of Avelino. It then approved another resolution declaring the office of Senate President vacant and designating Senator Mariano Cuenco as Acting Senate President. Cuenco took his oath. The next day, the President of the Philippines recognized him as Acting President of the Senate.

Avelino went to the Supreme Court.

He argued that Cuenco had not been validly elected and that he remained the lawful President of the Senate.

Was Avelino correct?

No.

The Supreme Court first observed that the controversy involved the internal affairs of the Senate. The Constitution grants each House of Congress the power to choose its own officers. Because of the separation of powers, the Court was reluctant to interfere in what was essentially a political dispute among senators.

The Court emphasized that if the majority of senators truly wanted Avelino to remain Senate President, his remedy lay not in the courts but in the Senate itself. The senators were free to choose, replace, or reinstate their presiding officer whenever the rules allowed.

Even assuming that the Court had jurisdiction, a majority of the justices agreed that the session continued after Avelino walked out.

The Court reasoned that a minority of senators could not paralyze the Senate merely by leaving the session hall. The senators who remained were entitled to continue conducting business, and the resolutions they adopted could not be defeated simply because others chose to depart.

The practical reality also mattered.

The Court noted that the senators supporting Cuenco constituted a majority of the Senate. Since the office of Senate President ultimately depended on the support of the majority, it would be pointless for the Court to restore Avelino to an office that the majority of senators no longer wanted him to occupy.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition and allowed Cuenco to remain Acting President of the Senate.