‘Legarda may be Senate prez for 2 to 3 months’
History will be made—but somehow there’s a time limit.
Sen. Loren Legarda may sit as the country’s first female Senate president—albeit briefly for just two to three months—before the end of the 20th Congress.
What started out as a joke during the Senate lounge discussion among members of the majority group on Wednesday has turned into serious talk about future leadership changes.
“It’s not official, but the understanding was in the latter part of [Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III’s] term as Senate president of the 20th Congress … we will elect the first woman Senate president in the history of Congress,” Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri told reporters on Thursday.
Thwarted attempt
In a radio interview earlier in the day, Sotto said it was Zubiri who floated the idea that Legarda may sit as Senate president in the last two or three months of his term.
The previous day, the Senate leader revealed that he and his allies managed to “thwart” an attempt to unseat him.
Expounding on this on Thursday, Sotto said there were some members of the minority who wanted to install Legarda.
‘Term-sharing’
He continued to enjoy the support of 15 senators, he added.
As to Legarda’s future chance to take the helm, Zubiri clarified that it would not be under a “term-sharing” scheme —a phrase Sotto used when the arrangement was first floated.
“We have an agreement that there will be a change in leadership within the majority members, if we still have the support of all the majority members,” he said.
Legarda knew about this plan as this was discussed in her presence during their Senate lounge meeting, Zubiri added.
Aside from Zubiri, Sotto and Legarda, also present in the meeting were Senators Panfilo Lacson, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, and Bam Aquino.
No objection
Zubiri said he repeated to Legarda on Thursday the agreement reached during the meeting, because she asked him if they were just joking.
“And I said, I don’t think it’s a joke. I think we mean it and I think the members of the majority who were there did not object. There was no objectable language, no resistance,” he noted.
“Today I mentioned to her that I think the Senate president is seriously looking into that possibility. I think congratulations are in order to hopefully our future first female Senate President,” Zubiri added.
According to Zubiri, Legarda could be elected Senate president after the chamber’s transfer to its new building in Taguig City by the end of 2027.
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