LP senators to super majority: Feeling is mutual

MANILA, Philippines - There’s no love lost between the administration and Liberal Party (LP) senators ousted from the so-called super majority.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who is also LP president, said that they had tried to work with the administration and set aside their differences but “a number of events have made it untenable and unacceptable for us to stay with the super majority in the Senate.”

He said LP senators had always been mindful of the fact that the administration was only seven months into office.

“Every incoming president deserves a chance to prove himself and also deserves to be supported at the beginning of his term, because if he succeeds in fulfilling what is required of him in his oath of office, then his success will be our success as a nation,” Pangilinan said.

He said LP senators had held off their punches to give the administration more room to do its job.

“That is what we in the LP set out to do seven months ago. We set aside our differences, sought unity with our adversaries and offered a helping hand for the sake of the nation’s interest. In modern democracies, bipartisan or multipartisan coalitions are cobbled together as a means of helping lead governments and nations,” he said.

The LP and its allies joined the supermajority in the Senate after giving Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III their support in his bid for the Senate presidency.

Apart from Pangilinan, the LP bloc is composed of Sens. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Leila de Lima, now Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and affiliate Risa Hontiveros who is actually from Akbayan.

“The writing was on the wall. It was just a matter of time and the time did come. Hence, when we were asked to leave the super majority, we did not resist and did so willingly and without debate,” Pangilinan pointed out.

In the past seven months, the LP had taken a beating from the administration due to conflicting stand on issues.

De Lima, a staunch administration critic, lost her chairmanship of the committee on justice and human rights and eventually her freedom after a regional trial court judge ordered her arrest on drug charges.

The LP has also taken a strong stance against several key issues, including the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, the proposed revival of the death penalty and the lowering of the criminal age of responsibility.

Despite differences, LP senators – according to Pangilinan – still exerted efforts to work with the administration as legislators.

He noted that of the 29 bills and committee reports being tackled on second reading in plenary, 20 or over two-thirds were being defended by Hontiveros and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

“While we were part of the majority coalition and supported a number of initiatives of the government, we did not shirk from what we believed to be our constitutional duty and responsibility to oppose policies and pronouncements that we believed to be inimical to the national interest,” Pangilinan said.

No politics

 Party chair Vice President Leni Robredo, meanwhile, clarified she is not using her office’s anti-poverty program to gain political support.

In an interview with  Bohol yesterday, Robredo’s spokesperson Georgina Hernandez said the Vice President’s visits to provinces are purely for promoting her many advocacies, including nutrition and food security, universal healthcare, education, rural development, housing and women empowerment.

Hernandez said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has sought partnerships with various local government units and non-government organizations for the implementation of the Angat Buhay Program, launched in October last year, in the poorest areas in the country.

“Most of the time the local government officials are included in our meetings. But in terms of a separate meeting with Liberal Party, I am not aware of any,” she said when asked if the Vice President is meeting her partymates in Bohol. – With Helen Flores