Villar for Senate president pushed

MANILA, Philippines - A resolution is being passed among senators to again install defeated presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party as Senate president.

This was disclosed yesterday by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who said she was the fifth senator to sign the resolution. She said it is likely that Villar has obtained the 13 votes he needs to be reinstated as Senate president.

Some senators would want Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to stay as Senate chief while the Liberal Party is still choosing between Senators Franklin Drilon and Francis Pangilinan as its candidate.

Supporters of Sen. Edgardo Angara claimed they have the numbers to install him as Senate president.

President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party said he would respect the independence of the Senate in choosing its head but would of course prefer somebody from his party.

“Definitely, I would hope that one of my party mates that I have in the Senate or the incoming Congress would be elected by the senators,” Aquino said.

Santiago said every group seemed to be waging a propaganda battle that they have the number of votes because there are only 23 senators.

“For example, I’ve noticed that when certain senators declare to the media that they already have the votes of A, B, C and so on, I am immediately skeptical because I saw the signatures of at least some of these people in the same draft resolution that I myself signed.,” Santiago said.

She said she expects senators from the Nacionalista Party to vote for Villar. 

“I think the first thing that had to be done at that point was to make sure that those of us who ran in the same ticket would not lose our sense of unity and our sense of cohesion,” Santiago said.

Santiago said senators from other camps have also approached her to vote for their candidates.

“But it is considered normal… Our friends approach each of us to see whether they could get us to at least look at the possibility of voting for themselves or their chosen candidates,” she said.

Santiago said with Villar at the helm, the Senate would likely become an opposition to the Aquino administration.

“Well, you know that we operate under a system of checks and balances and since the balances will be provided within the executive branch itself, it is really better for at least the democratic ideal, for the other political branch of government, meaning to say the legislature, to be in the hands of the opposition so that there will be a check on the president and his Cabinet,” Santiago said.

Santiago refused to say what committees she would want to chair should Villar win.

“Let’s just keep it confidential because I might only be embarrassed if he does not win as Senate President and I would have been in effect hoping for the moon. But I will certainly make myself available for any position that my colleagues under Senator Villar might deem fit for me to occupy,” she said. 

Santiago said she does not favor people power “because I’m very, very committed to law and order as a lawyer.”

“So I’ll be loyal to the Constitution, I’ll be loyal to the president, I am not going to seek his overthrow for flimsy reason but at the same time, I’ll try to point out if there is some failure or inadequacy on the part of his administrative staff, meaning to say his Cabinet because even he might not be aware of what his Cabinet is doing,” she said. 

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said yesterday said the Senate under the Aquino administration would be both supportive and critical.

“After a majority of Filipinos had spoken already, Noynoy deserves all the support. Even in the new Senate, we are assuring him of our cooperation,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano accompanied his wife, Taguig mayor-elect Laarni Cayetano, on a visit to her hometown of Tiwi, Albay.

He said, however, that the Senate would keep a close watch on members of the Aquino administration, particularly the Cabinet officials, who Aquino should select carefully.

“I have high hopes that the legacies of Tita Cory and hero Ninoy Aquino would be carried out by the Aquino administration,” Cayetano said. “(But) how he would deal with his critics and how he would deal with his supporters could affect his administration.”

Cayetano suggests that Aquino implement a more transparent budget policy so the public will know where their taxes go.

“To do this, a line item budget scheme must be implemented so that every funded project could be easily identified,” he said.   He also suggested that the internal revenue allotment for local government units be raised.