Drilon says he’s ready to turn over Senate presidency to Villar next month

Senate President Franklin Drilon entrusted the Senate presidency to Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. as Congress formally adjourned sine die yesterday.

The Senate will formalize its support for Villar’s bid when Congress resumes session on July 24.

"As envisioned in our gentleman’s agreement two years ago, I will nominate and, with the support of the majority coalition in the Senate, we will elect Sen. Manny Villar as Senate president on July 24, when the Third Regular Session of the 13th Congress begins," Drilon said during a joint press conference with Villar.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Villar should ensure that the Senate, under his leadership, would remain independent of Malacañang.

Pimentel also urged Villar to protect the rights of the minority group in the Senate when the need arises.

"I think that Senator Villar will be more or less independent, maybe more, not less, independent than usual... I have a strong basis to believe that Sen. Villar will uphold the role of the Senate as an agency of government that will stand up whenever the rights of the people (are) subjected to oppression," Pimentel said.

Drilon added that the smooth transfer of leadership "will usher (in) a continuation of the Senate’s role as a bulwark of democracy during these challenging times."

"I am not leaving the presidency of the Senate with a heavy heart," Drilon said. "I do so gladly in the knowledge that I could not be turning it over to a more able person."

Drilon said he was confident that Villar would continue "to maintain the Senate’s position as a rampart of freedom in this country today. I am confident he will make the Senate soar to even greater heights."

Villar thanked Drilon for leading the smooth transition of the Senate leadership in Filipino: "Nais kong magpasalamat sa ating Pangulo ng Senado, kay Frank, na magkakaroon ng maayos na turnover ng presidency ng Senado. Ito ay dahil sa suporta ng nakakaraming mga senador sa Senado (I wish to thank our Senate President, Frank, for the smooth turnover of the Senate presidency. This is because of the support of so many senators in this chamber)."

Villar said he has the support of the chamber’s majority, confirming earlier statements by Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier that Villar had already obtained the signatures of at least 13 senators.

Villar assured the public and his colleagues that the Senate will remain independent of the Palace and any other pressure groups: "Ang aking history as a politician and as a businessman, makikita mo na I have always been independent. At sa Senado, ang posisyon namin ay hindi ang posisyon ng Senate president kundi ang posisyon ng Senado sa kabuuan (My history as a politician and as a businessman, as you can see, has always been independent. And in the Senate, our position is not the position of the Senate president, but the position of the Senate as a whole)."

As Senate president, Villar said, he will act as a mere spokesman for the chamber in its collective position on issues.

Speaking of his relationship with President Arroyo, he said in Filipino that "I am critical of the President and I praise her when she has done something well. In my view, there is no change in my attitude to the President. It probably won’t change here."

Drilon said it was during his watch that the Senate faced challenging times, referring to moves calling for the abolition of the Senate, which came after Drilon severed ties with President Arroyo on July 8, 2005.

Drilon said he did his best, as Senate president, to defend democracy from the plots and designs of those who tried to harm it: "I have exerted every ounce of strength to defend the Senate from those who have tried to diminish its powers or remove it from being an obstacle to authoritarian role."

The Senate was battered with calls for abolition after it took a collective stand to fight Charter change moves by the Arroyo administration.

Drilon said the Senate was united against Mrs. Arroyo’s issuance of three controversial directives — Proclamation 1017, Executive Order 464 and the Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) — all questioned by the Senate before the Supreme Court.

In his speech prior to the sine die adjournment, Drilon said the Senate under his watch was "a Senate that stood like a formidable rock by the bay against the red-faced molehill along the river."

Pimentel raised a question in the middle of plenary session yesterday as to why most of the bills introduced before the floor were authored by Villar, a seeming prelude to Villar’s assumption of the Senate presidency.

Drilon said the move was customary, as forwarded by the Senate Bills and Index. The Senate was scheduled to adjourn last night. Congress resumes session for the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.

Meanwhile, Malacañang expressed optimism that its relations with the Senate would improve with Villar taking over the Senate presidency.

Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said that while the Palace is treating as normal the changes in the Senate leadership, it is "interested" to see any change in the political dynamic of the chamber.

"It’s not so much the person, but we hope that the Senate and Malacañang, the Executive (branch), we hope that with the change in leadership, something good will come out in terms of the relationship of the Palace and the Senate," Defensor said in a press briefing at the Palace.

"Now that the political dynamics have changed, we would rather leave it to the Senate, particularly Sen. Villar and Sen. Drilon, to settle the ascendancy issue," he said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye reiterated that Malacañang does not interfere in the internal affairs of the Senate in response to queries about Malacañang’s reaction to the reported change in the Senate leadership.

When asked whether the Palace could expect favorable developments under Villar, he said: "As far as the Palace is concerned, it has its own agenda of reforms. The Palace is determined to push these reforms and this is regardless of the leadership in the Senate." — With Paolo Romero