Imee announces bid for top Senate post
The battle for the Senate leadership in the next Congress has become even more interesting as reelected Sen. Imee Marcos on Friday claimed that “some” of her colleagues have expressed their support for her to replace Senate President Francis Escudero.
But President Marcos’ elder sister, who had criticized her brother’s administration over several national issues, including the arrest and transfer to The Hague of former President Rodrigo Duterte, did not categorically say if she has accepted her colleagues’ supposed endorsement.
“Whoever will be elected by our peers, whether it is me or not, there are certain congressional reforms that need to be undertaken,” Senator Marcos said in a statement.
“The most important is reform in the budgetary process,” she said. “We should also start [with] electoral reforms, including [reforms in the] political [parties], which have become mere tools for personal ambition rather than public interest.”
Joins bloc vs brother
The senator, who left the senatorial slate backed by the President and sought the endorsement of Vice President Sara Duterte in the midterm elections, had confirmed that she would be joining the “Duterte bloc” in the Senate when the 20th Congress opens in July.
But Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada believed that Escudero would be able to keep the leadership of the upper chamber despite the supposed clamor of several of his colleagues to install a new Senate chief.
Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who secured a historic fifth six-year term as senator, had already expressed his interest in reclaiming his previous post upon his return to the 24-member chamber.
“Everything is still possible, everything is still fluid … But I’m confident that Escudero will still retain his position as Senate president,” Estrada told reporters in a mobile phone interview.
He also downplayed rumors that he would replace Escudero as “interim” Senate president when their regular session resumes on June 2.
“I will decline it. That is not true,” Estrada said.
Escudero had previously said that he would leave it up to his fellow senators if they still want him to lead the chamber.
Meanwhile, senator-elect Erwin Tulfo said both Escudero and Sotto reached out to him and sought a meeting about the Senate leadership issue.
Tulfo, who ran along with Sotto under the administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, said he would again talk to his brother, Sen. Raffy Tulfo, before deciding on the matter.
“I have discussed it with Raffy extensively, but I have yet to make a decision … I’m still weighing it,” he said.
