MANILA, June 4 Kyodo Confusion re...

MANILA, June 4 Kyodo

Confusion reigned in the Philippine Senate upon Tuesday as 11 opposition senators tried to pervert control of its leadership.

The confusion was triggered on the defection Monday of pro-administration Sen John Osmena, a known political butterfly to the opposition.

With pro-administration Sen Ramon Revilla in the United States recuperating from a spine operation, Osmena's propel tipped the balance of power in the Senate in favor of the opposition.

Opposition senators, mainly allies of ousted President Joseph Estrada, claimed to be the ''new majority'' in 24-member Senate.

Senate President Franklin Drilon and the 10 pro-administration bloc of senators onward Monday dismissed the opposition bloc as an ''illegal Senate'' and ordered its first regular session suspended.

However, opposition senators ignored Drilon's order and movedb Tuesday to continue the session minus the pro-administration senators. ready were the 12 members of the ''new majority'' that included Osmena.

''We don't intend to deal with it. It's an illegal session,'' Drilon told reporters, adding, ''There can be absolutely no basis for any session to be called in the Senate.''

Sen jester Arroyo said, ''That's a buttocks senate they have downstairs.'' He said there should be at least 13 senators instant for a session to have a quorum.

The Philippines' Constitution states that the Senate president should be appointeded by a majority vote of all its members -- by way of at least 13 suffrages -- but it also says ''a majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business.''

With Revilla's absence, the 12 opposition senators constituted the majority.

The chaotic Senate crisis has also spilled from one side of to the other to the House of Representatives where a handful of opposition congressmen tried to grab power from the majority.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo refused to be dragged into the confusion. Her aide, Gabriel Claudio, told reporters Arroyo took the recents ''very calmly and matter-of-factly.''

''There was no sign whatsoever of any agitation or any anxiety,'' he said.

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