Sen. Bato dela Rosa Speaks on Tags vs. Senate Pres. Tito Sotto
BATO DELA ROSA – The Senator reacted to the claims that Senate President Tito Sotto is allegedly under House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Undeniably, the flood control mess did not only leave countless Filipinos greatly disappointed by the billions of government funds supposedly used on ‘ghost’ and substandard flood control projects. It also resulted to the revamp of the Senate as well as accusations against some senators and congressmen.
In the Senate, a shakeup took place amid the flood control issues. Then-sitting Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero was replaced by then-Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto. Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada was replaced by Sen. Ping Lacson.
Then-Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva was replaced by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri. The shake up happened after Escudero, Estrada, and Villanueva were linked into the flood control mess.
Currently, under the lead of Senate Pres. Tito Sotto, the Majority bloc has 15 members while the Minority bloc has nine (9) members. Most of the Duterte-allies now belong to the Minority bloc.
Senate Majority bloc
- Sen. Tito Sotto
- Sen. Ping Lacson
- Sen. Miguel Zubiri
- Sen. Risa Hontiveros
- Sen. JV Ejercito
- Sen. Loren Legarda
- Sen. Bam Aquino
- Sen. Pia Cayetano
- Sen. Win Gatchalian
- Sen. Lito Lapid
- Sen. Kiko Pangilinan
- Sen. Erwin Tulfo
- Sen. Raffy Tulfo
- Sen. Camille Villar
- Sen. Mark Villar
Senate Minority bloc
- Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano
- Sen. Rodante Marcoleta
- Senator Joel Villanueva
- Sen. Chiz Escudero
- Sen. Imee Marcos
- Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
- Sen. Robin Padilla
- Sen. Bato Dela Rosa
- Sen. Bong Go
Recently, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto and Minority Sen. Bato dela Rosa have exchanged heavy statements. The Senate session was even put on pause and the lawmakers huddled to discuss the issue.
It was after Dela Rosa reacted to the “gimmick” remarks of the Senate Chief who claimed that the concerns over the detention of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Brice Hernandez is allegedly a gimmick of the Minority bloc.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa stressed to Senate Pres. Tito Sotto that the chamber is not a “noontime TV show” that has full of gimmicks. According to him, they raise legitimate issues in the chamber.
In the middle of the plenary session, the senators huddled. Senate Pres. Tito Sotto stressed that the mention of a “noontime show” by Sen. Bato dela Rosa is hurtful towards him. The long-time TV host of Eat Bulaga emphasized that the show has helped more people.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Sen. Bato dela Rosa was overheard responding to the said remarks of Senate Pres. Tito Sotto. He raised the claims that accuse Sotto of being under House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
“Yung pinopost nila doon na ginagawa ka na tuta ni Martin, masakit sakin ‘yun sir. If you go down, everybody goes down. The institution goes down,” the former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief told Sotto.
Amid the flood control issue that also dragged the name of the House Speaker, several House members asserted “no change of leadership” amid the issues versus House Speaker Martin Romualdez.