Noy hands off on new Senate leadership

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino does not want to meddle into the Senate leadership issue in deference to a co-equal and independent branch of government.

“The senators might ask us why we are meddling... Let us wait for their own declaration,” Aquino said yesterday.

The President issued the statement following reports that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile may be replaced after nine administration candidates won the senatorial race.  

Some senators wanted to oust Enrile when he opposed the passage of the sin tax and Reproductive Health (RH) measures late last year.

But sources said the senators allied with the administration were waiting for the signal from the President to have Enrile removed from office but that signal never came before the May 13 midterm elections.

‘Drilon has the edge’

Meanwhile, re-elected Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said Sen. Franklin Drilon will likely be the next Senate president since the administration has the majority in the Senate.

“As a mathematician, there are nine Team PNoy winners plus around seven senators friendly with the President, so nine plus seven is 16, and you only need 13 votes to elect the Senate president, so I would say that there would be a change in the Senate presidency and it would most likely be Sen. Drilon,” Pimentel said during a thanksgiving dinner held Monday at the Team PNoy headquarters in Makati City.

The nine Team PNoy members who won the senatorial race are Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Sonny Angara, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Pimentel, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Cynthia Villar.

On the other hand, the senators allied with the President are Drilon, Teofisto Guingona III, Ralph Recto, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Pia Cayetano, Sergio Osmeña III and Manuel “Lito” Lapid.

Drilon has emerged as the strong contender for Senate president being vice chairman of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) and campaign manager of Team PNoy in the last elections.

However, reports have it that re-elected Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also has his eye on the Senate presidency and could pose a serious challenge to Drilon.

Pimentel said Cayetano would be a choice but he believes that Drilon would prevail, being the more senior legislator.

“Sen. Cayetano will be a choice but I think being the younger senator, he can easily be persuaded to support Sen. Drilon,” he said.

For her part, newly elected Sen. Cynthia Villar agreed that the next Senate president will come from the administration coalition but said she will not commit to supporting Drilon.

“We will hold a meeting with the Nacionalista Party first and whatever they decide then we will talk with the LP,” she said.

Drilon, for his part, said that every aspirant for Senate president would have to “present his or her case to each senator on every issue.”

He said that senator-elect JV Ejercito Estrada was wrong in saying that he was a shoo-in for the Senate presidency.

“Having been in the Senate for 15 years (in almost a third of which I headed the chamber), I never entertained the thought that I would be a shoo-in as Senate president as JV alleged,” Drilon said.

“That statement is totally baseless and uncalled for. I have never assumed or said that I have the automatic support of my colleagues simply because of my role in the campaign or being an LP member,” he added.

Estrada had earlier said that he would not vote for Drilon as Senate president.

Magsaysay: No regrets

Meanwhile, after failing in his bid to return to the Senate, former senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. is going back to his life as a private citizen with no regrets for taking another crack at politics.

Magsaysay congratulated all 12 winners of the senatorial race and wished them well as they take on their role as servant-leaders. – With Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez