Marcos Jr. Reacts To Majority Senators' Claim They're "Targeted"

Following Senate Leadership Change, Marcos Jr. Reacts to Claims of Majority Senators

MARCOS JR. – The President reactd to the claim of some majority senators that they are allegedly being “targeted” following the change in leadership.

The Senate recently had a change of leadership. Former Senate Pres. Tito Sotto was ousted and replaced with now-SP Alan Peter Cayetano after 13 senators declared the Senate presidency and all the other positions vacant.

The now-majority bloc led by Cayetano includes the following:

Francis “Chiz” Escudero,
Joel Villanueva
Imee Marcos
Rodante Marcoleta
Robin Padilla
Christopher “Bong” Go, Dela Rosa
Loren Legarda
Pia Cayetano
Mark Villar
Camille Villar

Sen. Loren Legarda is now the Senate President Pro Tempore. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman now is Sen. Pia Cayetano. Both positions were previously held by Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

The Senate minority bloc is now composed of 9 senators who are the following:

Tito Sotto
Ping Lacson
Risa Hontiveros
Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan
Bam Aquino
Raffy Tulfo
Erwin Tulfo
Sherwin Gatchalian
Lito Lapid

Following the Senate change in leadership and amid the cases against some majority senators. some senators in the majority including presidential sister and Sen. Imee Marcos claimed that the majority senators are allegedly being targeted. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is now faced with plunder and graft charges. An obstruction of justice complaint was also filed against Sen. Robin Padilla for allegedly helping Sen. Bato dela Rosa.

The Department of Justice or DOJ has declared Sen. Bato dela Rosa as a “fugitive” and ordered his arrest. The Senator is faced with an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Following the claims of some majority senators including Sen. Imee Marcos that the majority senators are allegedly being targeted, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denied the allegation. He stressed that he vowed for accountability over the flood control issue.

“Almost a year ago. Ang sinabi ko sa taumbayan kailangan malaman ng taumbayan ang katotohanan. At noong kami ay pinag-aaralan ng Ombudsman, ng Department of Justice, lahat ng mga alegasyon na dumating dahil sa flood control, maraming nagsasabi, ‘Bakit wala pang nangyayari?'” Marcos Jr. said during a press conference.

Pres. Bongbong Marcos ordered the creation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure or ICI over the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption. It did the following:

Nine referrals, covering 65 implicated individuals, submitted to the Ombudsman, one of which was made with the Department of Public Works and Highways
66 individuals referred to the Department of Justice for the issuance of Immigration Lookout Bulletin Orders (ILBOs)
32 hearings covering 36 witnesses, including 20 legislators and five agency heads
16 site inspections nationwide
1,173 documents processed
6,692 bank accounts of implicated individuals frozen or subjected to freeze orders
P24.7 billion worth of assets seized, preserved, frozen or surrendered, according to the Anti-Money Laundering Council. This includes 229 vehicles, 394 insurance policies, 161 real properties, 16 e-wallet accounts and 10 air assets
Eight inter-agency coordination meetings conducted and six legislative sessions attended
Three hearings livestreamed

“Ngayon nandito na at dahan-dahan lumalabas na ang katotohanan… Ang pinakamaganda, kung talagang may kaso, kung sila ba naman ay walang ginawang mali ay lalabas naman ‘yan sa pagsusuri ng paghusga. Kaya ngayon ay ito na ang hinihingi sa amin ng tao,” Marcos Jr. added.

Pres. Bongbong Marcos also noted that the majority senators now are not the majority senators when the flood control issue broke out. Based on the post, he stressed that the charges against some majority senators now are because of the investigations.

“Hindi ko alam kung paano napunta na sinasabi na ‘yung majority ngayon ang tinatarget dahil kung tutuusin ninyo, hindi sila majority noon. So that does not apply. It was because of the allegations that were made and the investigations that were conducted,” Marcos Jr. said.