BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and RAYMOND AFRICA
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday the recent change in the Senate leadership was a decision made by the senators and not by him, although he said he was made aware of the move to oust Juan Miguel Zubiri as the chamber’s president while it was happening.
Zubiri, meanwhile, said he and other members of the “Solid 7” at the Senate will come up with a decision on the “direction” they would take after he comes back from a three-week vacation with his family.
The six other members are Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Juan Edgardo Angara, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Nancy Binay. The six opted to remain allied with Zubiri after the latter stepped down as he sensed he would be ousted.
The President, in an interview in Brunei Darussalam, said he does not know who Zubiri was referring to when he claimed he was removed from the top Senate post because he “failed to instructions from the powers that be.”
Zubiri issued the statement on May 20 during as valedictory speech before he was replaced with Francis Escudero.
Marcos said he has not spoken with Zubiri after his ouster.
“I guess if you’re Senate President, the only power that be is the President. So, I’m not sure what he is referring to. If that is a specific instance or just as a general principle, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him about it,” Marcos said.
“The last time I spoke to him, we talked about the procurement law. This didn’t come up. So, it’s hard for me to answer simply because I’m not quite sure what he’s referring to because what instructions could there be that hindi niya natapos (he failed to complete). Yes, that’s still unclear to me what he was referring to,” he added.
Asked if Zubiri still enjoys his trust, the President said “Sure, of course.”
He added the “decision to change the leadership is not made by me. It was made by the senators. So, that does not reflect on my view on Senator Migz (Zubiri) and the trust and confidence that I have in him.
The President said Escudero was the one who informed him of the shakeup in the Senate at the time that it was happening.
He said he did not personally talk with any party concerned at that time because he was out of town attending presidential activities. He was distributing aid to El Niño affected communities in Mindanao.
“I was basically informed at every step of the way but it moved so quickly as well… Of course, we knew the state of the voting. When that was still being collected, the votes were still being collected by Senator Chiz (Escudero),” he said.
He said that when he arrived in Manila, the changes had already been made.
Zubiri has resigned and replaced by Escudero who secured the support of 14 senators.
He said he tried his best to keep the Senate’s independent under his guidance and he wished the next leadership would be “steadfast in upholding the independence of our beloved institution.”
Zubiri also said while their group is considered as an independent bloc in the Senate, it is not discounting the possibility of joining the minority bloc composed of minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III and his deputy, Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
On his family vacation, Zubiri said it will be at his own expense and will be taken while Congress is on sine die adjournment until July 21.
“The trip with my family is personal. I need a little ‘me time’ to get an emotional and mental break from all the politics and nasty backstabbing which happened in Philippine politics… I’m on vacation mode for the next three weeks,” Zubiri said in mixed Filipino and English.
Zubiri said he was hurt by his ouster.
