JV Ejercito to join Senate minority bloc should Zubiri be ousted

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito presides over the Committee on Local Government hearing in this file photo taken on February 28, 2024. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Amid rumors surrounding Senate leadership shakeup, Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito has promised one thing: To join the chamber’s minority bloc should Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri be ousted.

“Kapag pinalitan si SP Migz, I will be joining the minority,” Ejercito simply said in a text message.

(If SP Migz is replaced, I will be joining the minority)

Speculations surrounding the supposed shakeup point Senator Jinggoy Estrada — Ejercito’s brother —  as Zubiri’s ouster. This, however, was belied by Estrada who maintained that he has “high respect” for Zubiri.

“To quell all speculations, there’s no truth to it,” said Estrada when asked by reporters in an ambush interview on Monday whether or not there’s truth to rumors that he would replace Zubiri as the Senate President.

Prodded if he’s ready to be the Senate President, he simply said no.

“So what if I am a senior senator? I have high respect [for] Senate President Zubiri,” he emphasized.

Fourteen senators on Monday have signed a statement reiterating their “resolute and unqualified” support to Zubiri’s leadership.

In the statement, senators said Zubiri’s “consensus-building and consultative leadership” has made the upper chamber “one of the most harmonious in recent history.”

Apart from the Senate minority bloc members Senator Koko Pimentel and Risa Hontiveros, other lawmakers who did not sign the statement as of posting time include Estrada, Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Robin Padilla, Francis Escudero, Cynthia Villar, Imee Marcos, Pia Cayetano, and Alan Peter Cayetano.