Drilon says he is ready to become next Senate president

MANILA, Philippines - While declining to confirm talk that the Senate presidency is  his for the taking, Sen. Franklin Drilon said he is ready for the job and that he can ably push the administration’s reform agenda.

“I don’t want to be presumptuous, but given the experience I have, I could say that I could be better equipped for the situation in the Senate for the sake of pushing legislation and reforms that would need policy debates,” Drilon said in an interview on ANC yesterday.

“I really believe in the President’s agenda. I believe, given our experience – been there, done that, as they say – we can help in the President’s agenda if the 13 would feel that we can deliver the mandate that we got in the last election,” Drilon said, referring to the number of votes needed for him to bag the Senate presidency.

The 13 votes represent the majority of the 24 members of the Senate.

However, Drilon insisted the position “is not in the bag for me,” saying “it’s natural for people to speculate.”

Drilon was the campaign manager for the Liberal Party-led Team PNoy coalition during the recent election. The coalition bagged all but three Senate slots.

“I played a role in the campaign, worked hard, pushed for the President’s agenda,” Drilon said.

“The people sent a clear message with this election: let’s continue with what the President started three years ago. It is most logical since we had an active role in the campaign, the people will start at looking at me,” he added.

President Aquino earlier expressed his preference for Drilon as next Senate president to replace Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who was one of the three leaders of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). The two other leaders of UNA are former President Joseph Estrada and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“I am willing to serve,” Drilon said. “To say that it is in the bag, no. We have to talk to each senator – find out their preferences,” he added.

“They say there are 24 republics in the Senate. You just have to understand where the senators are coming from because each senator has the mandate of at least 14 million voters,” he said.

In a forum held at the Senate last week, Drilon said he had initiated discussions on the matter with Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., president of the Nacionalista Party.

The NP, with its five members in the Senate, has always been regarded as a key bloc in the chamber because it can easily deliver votes.

NP senators ran under the Team PNoy coalition during the last election.

Villar, who is ending his term next month, will be replaced by his wife, senator-elect Cynthia Villar.

The other NP senators in the 16th Congress are Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Antonio Trillanes IV.

Drilon, also LP vice chairman, said he and Villar had agreed on a common candidate for Senate president.

Enrile, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Gregorio Honasan, and senators-elect JV Ejercito Estrada and Nancy Binay are expected to comprise the minority bloc in the 16th Congress.

Drilon said he does not see any problem working with the group of Enrile.

“I would like to think it (relationship with Enrile) is very amiable and very pleasant. We took different sides on crucial legislation like the sin tax. He led the opposition in the sin tax, RH (reproductive health) bill. We were on the other side. We worked together. We both voted to convict former CJ (chief justice Renato) Corona. In all of these, we have had no personal differences, nothing personal,” Drilon said.