Two-member Senate minority bloc as Cayetanos identify as 'independent'
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 12:06 p.m.) — The composition of the Senate in the 19th Congress is set with the election of Juan Miguel Zubiri as Senate president and it will be a supermajority checked only by a minority of two and two more senators who identify as "independent."
At its first session Monday morning, the Senate elected Zubiri its president by acclamation. No other candidates for the post were nominated, and no objections to his election were raised after six senators nominated him.
Sens. Sonny Angara, Grace Poe, and Nancy Binay also nominated Sen. Loren Legarda as Senate President Pro Tempore. She also took the post with no other senator nominated for the post.
Sen. Joel Villanueva was elected majority Leader after Sens. Angara, Zubiri, and Ronald dela Rosa nominated him for the chairmanship of the Senate committee on rules — a position that traditionally belongs to the Majority Floor Leader.
"I know that we stand on the shoulders of giants in our attempt to make a difference...We will burn the midnight oil to live up to the responsibilities. We will not sleep or rest until we finish our job," Villanueva said in his acceptance speech.
The majority leader's role is to manage the legislative affairs of the chamber and help formulate, promote, negotiate and defend the majority’s legislative program, particularly on the floor.
Zubiri promises fairness to minority
Under Senate rules, lawmakers who did not vote for the eventual winner of the Senate president post become part of the minority by default.
This time around, it was Sens. Risa Hontiveros and Aquilinio "Koko" Pimentel III who abstained from voting for the post.
"It is the strength of an idea that makes it right and not the sheer number of its believers," Zubiri said as he vowed fairness to the two-member minority bloc.
"Within the majority there can still be a dissenting opinion, right? They’re all free to stand and under the bounds of our rules, ha, to stand and discuss their ideas, there’s a free flow of ideas, we will never stop them from doing it," Zubiri said in a press conference in June.
Pimentel, who was Senate president during the early part of the Duterte administration, has said that the minority bloc in this Senate will play a crucial role as a counterbalance.
"Structurally, we will make sure that the Senate is not just a rubber stamp. Because if you do not prepare structurally, we grow dependent on the attitude of each senator. Of course, I know that they are all independent thinkers, but let's not just depend on that," he said in mixed Filipino and English at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum earlier.
"So, structurally, we must have a real minority group in the Senate to check on the majority, because we're under the tyranny of numbers there."
Pimentel is minority leader
Pimentel will serve as minority leader, a role that his father Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. also took on during the Arroyo administration.
"I’m certain that Sen. Koko will help maintain the independence of the Philippine Senate, an institution crucial to our democracy, an institution we all hold dear," Hontiveros said as she moved to nominate Pimentel.
Under Senate rules, "the minority group chooses from among themselves the Minority Leader who is considered as the titular head of the minority in the Senate and oftentimes called a 'shadow president.'"
"He is expected to be alert and vigilant in defense of the minority’s rights. It is his function and duty to criticize constructively the policies and programs of the majority, and to this end employ parliamentary tactics and give close attention to all proposed legislation," the Senate rules also say.
The Rules of the Senate gives the President Pro Tempore and the Majority and Minority Leaders unique privileges as all are ex-officio members of all the permanent committees of the Senate.
'Independent bloc'
Sens. Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano also manifested separately that they did not join the voting for Zubiri and intended to remain part of the "independent" bloc of the chamber. They added that they will also hold off from joining the election for Senate minority leader.
"But may I reserve the right to say good things about our 'Zubiri' good Senate President?" Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano quipped in an attempt at a pun.
"At this point I would like to remain independent," his sister Pia also said in a separate manifestation.
However, an 'independent' bloc that is separate from both the minority and majority groups technically does not exist per the composition of the Senate. A separate bloc would also complicate membership in Senate committees.
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