Drilon vows to honor deal on term sharing

Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday that he would abide by his term- sharing agreement with Sen. Renato Cayetano and would try to convince his colleagues in the majority to respect this agreement.

Drilon made the pledge as Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar said that four members of a bloc within the majority were not parties to the agreement and would not allow Cayetano to succeed Drilon.

Under the term-sharing agreement, Drilon and Cayetano will have a tenure of 18 months each during the three years of the 12th Congress. Sen. Juan Flavier, a partymate of Cayetano, brokered the agreement to prevent the majority from splintering and assure their hold on the Senate presidency.

Cayetano is slated to succeed Drilon in December 2002, unless some snags develop.

Villar said that one snag is the lack of consultation with his group, composed of Senators Joker Arroyo, Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, and himself.

Drilon admitted that the group of Villar was not consulted at all but he vowed to try to convince fellow senators to respect his arrangement with Cayetano.

Cayetano, meanwhile, said that he has high expectations on the word of honor of his fellow senators in the majority. He said that he agreed to the term-sharing scheme with Drilon to save the coalition, and to Drilon’s prior assumption of the Senate presidency for a smoother power transition to the majority.

"I did not even ask for any major committee. I am doing all this for the sake of a united majority," Cayetano stressed.

Meanwhile, Sen. Edgardo Angara, president of Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, said that he has also entered into a term-sharing agreement with Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Pimentel, the former Senate president, became the minority leader after losing last Monday to Drilon, 11-13.

Angara said that Pimentel will serve as minority leader until December or for only five months, and he will take over from January 2002 until the end of the 12th Congress in June 2004. – Efren Danao