MANILA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Philippine senators remain divided over whether to remove Senate President Alan Cayetano, after Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was appointed Philippine Senate president pro tempore on Wednesday.

The Senate's "new majority" declared that Alan Cayetano was no longer Senate president, while the claim was contested by Cayetano.

On Monday and Tuesday, the former majority led by Cayetano did not appear in the Senate sessions. On Wednesday, 12 senators, including one from the former majority bloc, turned up at the chamber, satisfying the "quorum requirement" to resume sittings, according to local media reports. ■