Drilon conducts loyalty check among Lakas, PPC senators

Senate President Franklin Drilon is conducting a loyalty check among his colleagues to ensure their support for his leadership.

Drilon has apparently been making the rounds, even visiting administration Sen. Ramon Revilla at his Cavite residence yesterday. The former movie actor told The STAR that Drilon indeed visited him at lunchtime.

Revilla had earlier confirmed that an opposition senator was trying to recruit him to join the plot to oust Drilon as Senate president.

But both Revilla and Drilon were quick to deny the visit had something to do with the reported coup brewing at the Senate.

Reports said the ruling party Lakas-CMD and its allies in the People Power Coalition (PPC) want to replace Drilon with opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara due to the Senate president’s strong position against House Concurrent Resolution 16 calling for both chambers of Congress to convene into a constituent assembly to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Drilon dismissed the reports, saying he is confident that his colleagues from both the majority and the opposition still supported of his leadership.

He laughed off reports that a group of administration senators is joining forces with the opposition to replace him with Angara.

"I don’t think that there is any truth to that. I have no party, I am an independent. So, what party are they talking about?" Drilon asked.

At a news conference, Drilon took the opportunity to thank members of the majority and minority blocs in the Senate for expressing their support for his leadership.

"We will take this opportunity to unify the Senate," he said, as he admitted that the Senate has been divided the past two years.

"We hope that with these expressions of support, both from the majority and the minority, we could move the legislative agenda faster," Drilon said.

Drilon admitted visiting Revilla who is set to leave on Monday to the United States for his regular medical checkup.

"It (the visit) is not a loyalty check," Drilon stressed. "It was a friendly visit. I haven’t seen him for quite sometime."

For his part, Revilla said the two-hour meeting he had with Drilon was primarily on discussions over his health and his US trip.

The 77-year old former movie actor has been complaining of backaches which prevented him from attending plenary sessions at the Senate for the past few months.

Revilla became the "swing vote" in the recent numbers game between administration and opposition senators in claiming the majority in the Senate.

The reported revamp in the Senate leadership was averted when a weak Revilla showed up on a wheelchair.

Revilla told The STAR he is still gaining weight but "still weak inside."

"Senate President Drilon need not ask me about the possibility that I would jump ship because I am very much attached to the majority bloc. Lalaki tayo (We are gentlemen here) and I value word of honor," he said.

In separate statements, Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier and Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the majority and minority blocs do not see a need to change the Senate leadership.

Sen. John Osmeña, a member of the minority, said he would not support any attempt to unseat Drilon. "I’m a member of the minority, but I will not join any move to replace Drilon," he said.

After Sen. Renato Cayetano passed away on June 24, the Senate majority dwindled to 12 senators.

Aside from Drilon, the majority include Senators Flavier, Revilla, Robert Barbers, Robert Jaworski, Joker Arroyo, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, Manuel Villar, Noli de Castro and Ralph Recto.

On the other hand, the opposition is still composed of Sotto, Angara, Osmeña, Senators Sergio Osmeña, Panfilo Lacson, Luisa Ejercito, Gregorio Honasan, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Teresa Aquino-Oreta, and Rodolfo Biazon.

Arroyo, Recto, Pangilinan, De Castro and Villar, members of the so-called Wednesday group, are reportedly conspiring to replace Drilon with Villar.

Arroyo, for his part, denied the reports and said their group "does not want to create problems" in the Senate.

A highly placed source said Barbers was disappointed over President Arroyo’s decision to forgo his recommendations that former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim and ex-police officers Reynaldo Jaylo and Lucio Margallo lead the government’s renewed campaign against illegal drugs.

Sources said the developments had prompted the disappointed Barbers to consider going over to the opposition side.

But one of the staff of Barbers who requested anonymity said his boss has no plans to jump ship.

"Senator Barbers is considered a stalwart of Lakas and he will never ship out of the party. It was never his personality. As of now, it’s a big fat zero," the source said.

As Drilon brushed aside reports that some of his colleagues in the administration are conspiring against him, he pointed out that there are only five months left for the Senate to finish its legislative assignments.

"The campaign period will start in February. We suspend our sessions at that point and await and reconvene sometime in May, in order to proclaim the new President in 2004. Therefore, we have barely five months to finish our legislative agenda," he said.

Drilon said the shortness of the period is one of the factors that prompted that a status quo should be maintained at the Senate.