Enrile to remain as Senate president

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile will remain as Senate president when the 15th Congress opens today after Senators Francis Pangilinan and Manuel Villar withdrew their bids for the Senate presidency.

Enrile will also be seated behind President Aquino when he delivers his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) today.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Vicente Sotto III confirmed yesterday that Enrile had garnered the support of a majority of senators, enough to be elected again as Senate president.

“The LP (Liberal Party) had the numbers for a while until it lost one or two members. The best way to avoid the impasse and to unite the Senate, to have a cooperative but independent Senate was to convince Senator Enrile to run as SP,” Sotto said.

LP is the political party of Aquino and Pangilinan. The other LP members in the Senate are Senators Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto, and Teofisto Guingona III.

Another Aquino ally, Sen. Sergio Osmeña, who earlier said he might question Enrile if he would continue to be Senate president in holdover capacity, was also mum on the issue.

Sotto said Enrile “got the support of the majority” after successive talks with the senators since last week.

Estrada has declared his loyalty to Enrile whom he acknowledged as his mentor and chairman of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

He said Enrile could unify the Senate and maintain the Senate’s independence from Malacañang.

Enrile will likely preside at the opening of the Senate today after senators go into a caucus originally called by the incumbent Senate president at 9 a.m.

“The composition of the majority and the minority will depend on how the matters unravel today. But if there is one thing, Senator Enrile enjoys a broad majority. Most of the members support Sen. Enrile,” Sotto added.

Sotto, a returning senator, said the senators who may not agree on how the committee chairmanships would be distributed, might form the new minority.

Unless somebody contests Enrile’s hold on the Senate presidency, Sotto said it is not necessary to put out a resolution since he has been Senate president since the last Congress.

“It could very well be by acclamation,” said Sotto when asked how Enrile could formally retain his post in today’s first session day of the 15th Congress.

The most frequent type of acclamation is a voice vote, in which the voting group is asked who favors and who opposes the proposed candidate. In the event of a lack of opposition, the candidate is considered elected.

Enrile earlier declared that his stint as Senate president expired already with the end of the 14th Congress last June, and that it would be inappropriate for him to assume the same post at the opening of Congress without consent of his colleagues.

Villar goes for Enrile

The camp of Villar - which included Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Alan Cayetano and his sister, Pia, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. - remained quiet about the issue.

Sotto said Villar is supporting Enrile’s renewed bid for the top Senate post. 

“As far as I know, he (Villar) is supporting Senator Enrile,” Sotto said.

Sources said that Villar opted not to join the race for Senate president after talks between him and Enrile transpired last week, where they tried to patch up their differences.

The “strained” relationship between Enrile and Villar could be traced back to November 2008 when Enrile snatched the Senate presidency after a Senate coup that ousted Villar as Senate president. 

Enrile also led the Senate committee of the whole that heard the ethics charges against Villar in connection with the C-5 Road controversy, and another expose in the campaign for the May 10 presidential elections involving the alleged manipulation of stocks of Vistaland, a company owned by Villar who had vehemently denied the accusations.

Sources said Villar was ready to put the past behind and move forward following his defeat in the last presidential polls.

Villar reportedly told Enrile that he was not in contention for the Senate presidency. “I am not the enemy here,” the source quoting Villar said. 

Kiko withdraws from SP race

Pangilinan also conceded yesterday after he failed to muster the 13 majority votes after the massive horse-trading with possible allies in the last two months. 

He did not say if he would abide by the LP decision to support Enrile.

Pangilinan said that he “realized today that there are political realities and developments that prevent us from securing the needed 13 votes resulting in a deadlock or stalemate.”

“The inability of a majority in the Senate to unite behind one leader does not speak well of the Senate and the individual senators. Sa halip na pagkakaisa ay nagkakanya-kanya. It is a disservice to our people who want to see in our leaders efforts at solving the country’s many problems. Instead they see political maneuvering and posturing,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said he joins his colleagues in the hope that there will be a unified Senate after the body chooses its leader today.

“Much as I would like to go down fighting, I realize that to continue with my bid would keep the Senate fragmented and disunited. The disunity must now end. I believe I can help make it happen by voluntarily stepping aside,” Pangilinan said in a statement.

Pangilinan said he came up with his decision “after prayer and reflection, consulting my family and our Senate allies.”

“I have decided to withdraw from the race in order to pave the way for the senators to choose from our ranks who can unite us,” Pangilinan added.

Sen. Edgardo Angara announced yesterday the “grand coalition” of 21 senators that would support for Enrile.

Angara, who just stepped out from the series of meetings with Enrile in Makati City past 6 p.m. yesterday, said Estrada will remain the chamber’s president pro-tempore while Sotto will be elected as the new majority leader, replacing Juan Miguel Zubiri who held the post for three years since 2007.

“It is called a grand coalition because all the senators coming from the Liberal Party, Nacionalista Party and my bloc have come altogether to support Enrile,” Angara said.

Angara added there have been marathon meetings among senators throughout Sunday, with Villar’s NP being the last to meet Enrile and the other senators yesterday afternoon.

“This is the first time that there is unity in the Senate. This is also called as United Senate, with the capital U and capital S,” he added.

Angara said most the 37 Senate committee chairmanships have been distributed except the Senate committee of finance which is yet to be settled among him (Angara) and Drilon while the Blue Ribbon committee is being offered to Pangilinan.

The composition of the Senate minority will still have to be determined today.

Palace hopes for a friendly Senate

Malacañang hopes that the Senate would remain friendly towards the administration of President Aquino, even if LP stalwart Pangilinan had backed out from his bid for the Senate presidency.

“We look forward to working and cooperating with a friendly Senate. It’s important that we have a friendly Senate to know the process to adopt out legislative agenda,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told government-run radio dzRB yesterday.

Lacierda kept his distance when asked if Enrile would be a good ally. “When it comes to the Senate presidency, I would profess ignorance there because it’s an LP matter and it is best left to the leadership of the LP for them to discuss this matter.”

The Palace would necessarily want a cooperative Senate though.

“Of course, we would want a Senate that could help in the advocacy of the President. Kasama sa pagsuporta iyung paghingi ng cooperation tungkol sa legislative agenda ni President Aquino.”

He added it would still be up to the senators themselves whom to elect as their president.

“While we have our preference, that would depend largely on how the Senate president has gathered support and votes. What we already expect is at the end of the day, the LP will be able to muster enough forces to have a friendly Senate president with them,” he said. With Delon Porcalla