Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. was re-elected yesterday by a 14-member majority consisting of opposition and pro-administration senators.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who also ran for the post, gave Villar the 15th vote.
Pimentel received seven votes, including the one from Villar.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who is detained at Marine headquarters in Taguig, was not able to take part in the election for the Senate president.
Pimentel congratulated Villar and assured him of the support of the minority on important measures for the people.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is Senate president pro-tempore, while Sen. Francis Pangilinan remained majority leader. Pimentel is minority leader.
Sen. Pia Cayetano nominated Villar, describing him as a “team player” who could stand for the “vital oversight and check and balance” function of Congress vis-a-vis the Executive.
Senators Loren Legarda and Benigno Aquino III nominated Pimentel, calling him a true-blooded oppositionist.
Those who voted for Villar were Pimentel, Estrada, Cayetano, Pangilinan, and Senators Francis Escudero, Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan, Richard Gordon, Ramon Revilla Jr., Manuel Lapid, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Villar, Lacson, Madrigal, Legarda, Manuel Roxas II, Aquino, and Rodolfo Biazon voted for Pimentel.
Another opposition member, Trillanes, did not get permission from the court to attend the opening of the 14th Congress.
Villar dismissed allegations that he had kowtowed to Malacañang to get the support of pro-administration senators.
“On my part, I don’t think I should be baby sitting children,” he said.
“We are all mature and old enough to know what we are doing. The Senate has always been like that, we choose leaders based on the desire of the majority.
“But I respect whatever each senator has to say, all comments are welcome. I have much respect for them individually as well as their opinions, that is why I have been quiet.”
Villar would not confirm reports that he sought the support of the pro-administration senators because the eight members of the opposition planned to oust him.
“On my part, I just say whoever wants me raise your hand,” he said. “They’re the ones who raised their hands so that’s it.”
In his acceptance speech, Villar called on his colleagues to “prove our worth, our relevance – and give back what is expected of us as public servants in the truest sense of the word.”
“Over the years, the Senate has been the subject of much criticism and doubt, leading many to conclude that it is best to abolish it,” he said.
“However, the recently concluded senatorial elections only emphasized the Senate’s crucial role in the balance of power among its co-equal branches of government. The overwhelming consensus was that the Philippine Senate must maintain its institutional independence, beholden to no political power but to the sovereignty of the people.
“A legislative body like the Senate is an effective instrument of check and balance in a republican and democratic government. But the grandeur of this purpose is lost to some who think that the Senate’s role is one of unfailing negative criticism bordering on sheer obstructionism.”
Villar said the Senate must be pro-active, and that its members must “rise above political differences and destroy the walls of divisiveness” getting in the way of progress.
“We must revisit the agenda of national development, identify the missing links and redirect our combined legislative wisdom to achieve a sustainable and equitable economic growth,” he said.
Villar said Malacañang’s hand was not behind his re-election.
“The relationship (with the Palace) will still be the same,” he said.
“There will be no change. And why (the need for Palace intervention)? What do I need from the Palace? I don’t need anything from the Palace.
“I don’t have to say anything, to each his own opinion. I campaigned as Senate president so I think it would be embarrassing if I don’t get to remain Senate president... The people have different opinions also and it is important to respect each and everyone’s opinion. That is true democracy.”
Ermita at Senate
Before the session opened, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita arrived, saying Villar had invited him.
However, Villar later said Ermita “only dropped by to shake his hand.”
Ermita told reporters he was not there to join the caucus of the new majority but only to attend the opening session.
He did not stay long inside the office of Villar and proceeded to the session hall.
Asked whether Villar had become a Palace ally with his re-election with the backing of pro-administration senators, Ermita refused to answer categorically.
“This is a separate body,” he said.
“Both houses of Congress have their own agenda, they have their own rules. But of course the administration is always happy that things are okay.
“I’m very sure that the agenda that will be tackled in both houses of Congress, at the least, is always for the good, general welfare of our people.
“I’ve been saying all along that we have very mature political leaders and Iam very sure there is no reason why we will not have a smooth administrative program because our political leaders know what’s good for everybody, our country, for our people also.”
Jinggoy, Chiz vs Ping, Jamby, Loren, Noynoy
In explaining their votes for Villar, Estrada and Escudero engaged in a verbal tussle with Lacson, Madrigal, Legarda and Aquino after the nominal voting.
“My vote is a vote for continuity of what this august body has begun, what it has nurtured, what it has advocated and that is the fight against corruption, against anomalies, against repression, against suppression of the rights of our people and against a de facto dictatorship,” Estrada said.
Estrada assured his colleagues that he remains with the opposition, “opposed to anomalies and scandals, opposed to cheating and lying, opposed to deception and fraud, and to the many things that this (Arroyo) regime now represents.”
Estrada warned Villar that he would be ready to withdraw support once he is shown to be consorting or conspiring with Malacañang. “I will not hesitate to withdraw my support,” he said.
Witnessing the face-off were top government officials led by Ermita, members of the diplomatic corps including US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, families of senators and former senators.
Madrigal said while the Genuine Opposition (GO) won by a big margin against the administration, it is unable to elect its choice for Senate president.
“Among our own ranks, too many senators are prepared to ignore our public mandate. We have substituted political maneuverings, the kind that serve their narrow political interests, for our public duties,” she said.
“Our electorate does not want more of the same politics, the same sort of back-channel deals. It wants an opposition worth its salt, in the spirit of the lessons the May elections taught us. These are the reasons I believe Sen. Pimentel is the right statesman for the Senate presidency.
“We need statesmen and not businessmen to run this country. Statesmen willing to be jailed for principle, businessmen are not made of the same mettle.”
Lacson said he joined six senators in electing Pimentel to be Senate president out of principle and personal conviction.
“I voted for him out of gratitude to the tens of millions of voters who entrusted their mandate to the opposition and arguably to allow us to continue fiscalizing and providing checks and balances in this government as what we are supposed to do,” he said.
JV backs Jinggoy
San Juan Mayor Jose Victor “JV” Ejercito showed up at the Senate yesterday to support half brother Jinggoy’s bid for the post of Senate president pro-tempore, which he won.
“Sana lang magkaisa na kami at ipagpatuloy ang paglalaban,” he said.
Jinggoy is ousted President Joseph Estrada’s first-born son with former senator Loi Estrada, while JV is his only son with former actress Guia Gomez.
JV was initially seated at the gallery with Genuine Opposition (GO) spokesman Adel Tamano.
JV worked as campaign manager of the GO before he transferred his duties to former senator Sergio Osmeña Jr. when he (JV) ran for re-election as mayor of San Juan.
Pimentel welcomes Zubiri
Pimentel welcomed Zubiri as his new colleague and vowed to work with him for as long as the protest of his son, Aquilino III remained undecided by the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
Zubiri and Pimentel hugged and shook hands when they met at the Senate session hall.
“I reminded him that both of us are from Mindanao and no matter what ‘while he’s still here’ we can work on the Mindanao agenda,” Pimentel said.
“There is a protest (against Zubiri’s win). As a matter of fact, we are preparing, anytime we will file already.”
Pimentel said he was a bit disappointed that his son failed to join him in the Senate, but he noted it was part of the game.
“I myself had to pass through the eye of a needle to become a senator. This is nothing new to me,” he said.
“We will follow the rule of the law and vindicate his rights accordingly.”
Pimentel said he and Zubiri could push for Mindanao interests “regardless of partisan consideration.”
“We can have a good partnership for the nation’s well-being, especially for Mindanao, not for Gloria (President Arroyo),” he said.
Zubiri said there would be no problem working with Pimentel because of their being Mindanaoans.
“Senator Pimentel is a friend,” he said.
“In fact, when we were on a trip to China, I even carried his bags for him. So I think all of these are temporary, we must move on to bigger and better things. I respect him as one of the leaders of the Mindanao bloc. It would be better if we help each other.”
Pimentel’s son and Zubiri hotly contested the 12th slot in the last senatorial elections.
The senator said they would bring the case to the SET and that there was no need to isolate Zubiri. —With Jose Rodel Clapano