Cynthia Villar can be next Senate president – Bato

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Cynthia Villar can be the next Senate president in the 19th Congress, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said yesterday.

Dela Rosa said Villar, whose term will end in 2025, is one of the seasoned and senior members of the Senate.

“Maybe there are other senators who will be interested to become Senate president. Right now, for me Sen. Villar is coming out as our leader and she was Top 1 in the 2019 senatorial elections when we joined the 18th Congress,” Dela Rosa said in an interview over Net25.

“She is the most senior and No. 1 in our batch. She has been showing good leadership style,” Dela Rosa added.

Asked about the possibility of Sen. Bong Go as the next Senate president, Dela Rosa said he was not sure whether he is interested in seeking the Senate’s top post.

Others who will serve until 2025 are Senators Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Go, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Koko Pimentel, Grace Poe, Bong Revilla and Francis Tolentino.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s term has ended, along with Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Leila de Lima, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquiao, Francis Pangilinan and Joel Villanueva.

Sotto ran for vice president but lost while Zubiri, De Lima, Gatchalian, Gordon, Hontiveros and Villanueva sought reelections.

De Lima and Gordon so far have not made it to the Senate race’s Top 12.

The 19th Congress will be composed of Cynthia Villar and her son Mark, Sen. Pia Cayetano and her brother Allan Peter, JV Ejercito and half-brother Jinggoy Estrada.