Senate Wednesday Group to hold reunion with media

MANILA, Philippines - The five original members of the Wednesday Group at the Senate have agreed to hold a reunion with the media on Friday.

It would be the first time Senators Manuel Villar Jr., Ralph Recto, Joker Arroyo and Francis Pangilinan, plus former vice president Noli de Castro, will meet as a group after the May 10 elections.

Organizers said all the senators have been notified about the event.

The group split during the last presidential elections when Villar ran under the Nacionalista Party, and Recto and Pangilinan supported the belated bid of then Sen. Benigno Aquino III under the Liberal Party banner.

The re-emergence of the Wednesday Group as a another power bloc at the Senate came amid the division at the Senate composed of LP members led by Sen. Franklin Drilon, a faction of the so-called Noynoy-Binay group that includes Sen. Francis Escudero, senators formerly allied with the Arroyo administration, and those who classify themselves as “independent senators” such as Senators Sergio Osmeña and Vicente Sotto.

Recto, Villar and Pangilinan have confirmed their attendance, with all three looking forward to the big reunion.

Pangilinan said he will come to the reunion, which he described as like family reunions during Christmas holidays.

Recto did not reject the idea that this would mean that their group will emerge as another power bloc at the Senate.

Recto said they are friends even while they had different political leanings in the recent months.

“We’re friends, we agree on certain positions,” he said in Filipino.

“We could get together, or not. It’s case to case. We’re personal friends at the same time we have political leanings.

“It’s easier to talk among friends instead of having it on the floor, in a debate. We can talk among ourselves.”

Senator Arroyo and De Castro have not confirmed whether they will attend the event, but invitations were already sent to members of the Senate media for the Christmas party-cum-reunion at the Cuba Libre at Starmall in Mandaluyong this Friday.