MANILA, Philippines— Neophyte Senator Robin Padilla has admitted having an “issue” with newly elected Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva but said it is not personal.
After Villanueva was elected to his new post on Monday, Padilla took the floor to inform the chamber he was abstaining from the voting.
Padilla, in a message to reporters, revealed why he abstained from voting.
“Pag-usapan po namin muna ni Majority Floor Leader ang isyu ko sa kanya [I’ll discuss first with Majority Floor Leader my issues with him],” the neophyte senator said.
“Definitely hindi po personal [Definitely it’s not personal],” he said in a separate message to reporters. “Pero ako po ay kasama sa mayorya, kailangan ko din po siya proteksyonan sa isyu ko bilang siya po ang Majority Floor Leader [But I’m with the majority, so I also need to protect him with the issues I have with him, being the Majority Floor Leader].”
Villanueva said he was surprised by Padilla’s move.
“I have no idea, he has never talked to me,” he said in an interview at the Senate. “You know here in the Senate, we usually talk to each other before bringing something or anything on the floor.”
Nevertheless, he said he respects Padilla’s decision, adding he has no beef with anyone in the Senate.
“I was just elected the Majority Leader so I have to do my job and part of my job is to talk to him and part of my job is to make sure that even though if we don’t agree on any issue that you’re espousing or I’m espousing, at the end of the day, we just have to respect each other,” the new Majority Leader stressed.