Sen. Imee Marcos (Joseph Vidal/Senate Social Media Unit)
MANILA, Philippines (Updated) — Senator Imee Marcos on Monday confirmed an attempt to change the leadership of Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri.
Talks of changing the Senate leadership swirled over the weekend.
Asked if there was indeed an attempt to change the Senate leadership, Marcos said: “Oo (Yes), there’s a lot of pressure to change Migz Zubiri.”
“It’s all coming from outside the Senate, not within the Senate. So strange,” Marcos said in an interview at the Senate.
Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)
READ: Senators give full support to Zubiri: He’s our ‘inspirational leader’
Senator Cynthia Villar, meanwhile, bared that a statement of support for Zubiri was being routed among senators.
READ: Charter change: Zubiri holds the line
Asked about the content of the statement of support, Villar said: “No coup.”
“E nagpapa-sign si Senate President Zubiri, pano magpapalit e siya ang nagpapasign ng support?” Villar said in a separate interview.
(Senate President Zubiri is seeking signatures for support. How will there be a change when he himself is the one soliciting signatures?)
Villar said she heard talks that Senator Jinggoy Estrada was being eyed to replace Zubiri.
“Oo, nabalita ko rin ‘yun, pero wala naman silang pinasa-sign sa akin, so I can’t answer that,” she said.
(Yes, I heard about that too, but they didn’t ask me to sign anything, so I can’t answer that.)
When asked if there was a need to change the Senate leadership, Villar replied, “Basta ako, i-protect lang ang Senado, okay na sa akin.”
“Basta i-protect nila ang existence ng Senado, okay sila sa akin kasi ‘pag pumayag ka sa Cha-cha (Charter change), baka matanggal ang Senate,” she went on.
(As long as they protect the existence of the Senate, they’re okay with me because if you agree to Cha-cha, the Senate might be abolished.)
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are currently conducting hearings on proposals to amend specific provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
In the Senate, Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 specifically states that voting on constitutional amendments should be done separately by the two chambers of Congress.
However, its counterpart in the House, RBH No. 7, provides that Congress may propose amendments “upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members.”