Sen. Loren Legarda Happy for New Senate Leadership
LOREN LEGARDA – The Senator congratulated Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate President Pro Tempore Tito Sotto, and floor majority leader Migz Zubiri.
This morning, 13 senators voted to officially elect Senate Pres. Sherwin Gatchalian following the Senate leadership issue. His bloc was previously criticized by the minority bloc for declaring all the positions in the chamber vacant with 12 votes.
Last June 3, during a Senate plenary session joined by 12 senators, the lawmakers voted to declare all Senate positions vacant. They also elected Sen. Gatchalian as the Senate President Pro Tempore and he presided the session.
The quorum of 12 senators was the product of the attendance of Sen. Chiz Escudero at the Senate plenary session despite the absence of his bloc then. According to him, he is standing for the Senate so he attended the session.
Then. the ‘new minority bloc’ opposed the removal of all Senate officials. Sen. Pia Cayetano even stressed that the Senate President Pro Tempore is Sen. Loren Legarda and not Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. They insisted that 13 votes were needed.
Sen. Loren Legarda and other members of the Cayetano bloc filed a petition before the Supreme Court over the Senate leadership issue. This morning, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano conceded as the Senate President citing that the majority bloc now has the numbers to elect a new Senate chief following his conversation with Sen. Joel Villanueva.
Sen. Joel Villanueva and Sen. Mark Villar were not included in the petition filed by the Cayetano bloc before the Supreme Court over the Senate leadership issue. This morning, Villanueva joined the majority bloc.
With 13 votes, acting Senate Pres. Sherwin Gatchalian was officially elected in the position while former Senate President and minority leader Tito Sotto was elected as the Senate President Pro Tempore. Sen. Migz Zubiri was elected as the floor majority leader. Sen. Loren Legarda reacted to the new Senate leadership.
“Congratulations! I’m truly, sincerely happy for Sherwin. He’s a good friend, very competent, brilliant, disciplined, and we work well together. Congratulations. I’m so happy for him, for the institution,” Sen. Loren Legarda said based on GMA News.
Sen. Loren Legarda also congratulated Senate President Pro Tempore Tito Sotto and floor majority leader Migz Zubiri. Based on the post, she stressed that they must all work together.
“Number two, congratulations to former Senate President Minority Leader Tito. Diba siya na ang Pro Temp? Willingly, happily, I’m relinquished because they have the 13 votes. And, of course, congratulations to Migz, another dear friend, very competent, hardworking majority leader. We must all work together,” Legarda added.
Recently, another minority senator and the sister of former Senate Pres. Alan Peter Cayetano, Sen. Pia Cayetano, was asked about the new Senate leadership.