Villar open to share Senate presidency with Zubiri, says Dela Rosa

Sen. Cynthia Villar. Screen grab/ Senate PRIB file photo

MANILA, Philippines —Senator Cynthia Villar has offered to share the Senate presidency with Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri.

This is according to  Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who is brokering talks between Villar and Zubiri, who are poised to run for Senate President.

“Open naman  si Senator Cynthia ng term-sharing. In fact, nag offer sya noon pa. Nag offer sya na ganun [Senator Synthia is open to term sharing, in fact she offered it before],” Dela Rosa revealed on Tuesday  in an interview with reporters at the Senate.

“I’m not sure with Migz (Zubiri’s nickname) kung ok sa kanya pero si Maam Cynthia, ok naman sya sa term-sharing [I’m not sure if Migz is OK with that, but Ma’am Cynthia is fine with term sharing],”  he said.

Dela Rosa said Villar herself offered the term-sharing deal to  Zubiri “in the not so distant past.”

“Narinig ko parang  days before the election or after election na. Basta not so distant past,” he pointed out.

But in an interview on Monday,  Zubiri said they have yet to discuss the issue of term-sharing as some members of their “seatmates” bloc  do not agree to it.

“Term-sharing is something that still  has to  be discussed  because I have members of my bloc who don’t  like the idea of   term-sharing unfortunately,” he said.

Asked why, Zubiri said: “No comment na lang…All I can say is  some members of my bloc don’t agree  to term-sharing.”

The “seatmates” bloc is composed of Zubiri, Senators Joel Villanueva, Sonny Angara, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Nancy Binay, and Senator-elect  JV Ejercito.

Aside from Villar and Zubiri, other names have also been floated as possible contenders for the Senate presidency, including  Gatchalian and Senator-elect Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

“Nag-open din siya ng kanyang intention to run as Senate President  so isa rin siya pwedeng pagpilian [He opened up with his intention to run for Senate President so he is one of the possible contenders],” Dela Rosa further said of  Gatchalian.

JPV