MANILA, Philippines— Senator Cynthia Villar on Thursday said that she is not plotting a coup d’etat against Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
An alleged attempt to unseat Zubiri was confirmed on Monday by Senator Imee Marcos.
Without confirming this, however, Zubiri announced on Wednesday the majority of senators—17 of 24–already signed a statement of support for his Senate leadership.
Villar and Marcos were not mentioned as among those who signed the statement of support.
“Wala naman problema ako kay SP Zubiri eh hindi naman ako ang nagpaplano ng coup,” Villar said in a phonepatch interview when asked about her relationship with Zubiri.
(I don’t have any problem with SP Zubiri, I’m not the one planning the coup.)
“I don’t have any guilt with regards to SP Zubiri. Wala naman akong ginagawang masama.”
(I don’t have any guilt regarding SP Zubiri. I’m not doing anything wrong.)
“Tanungin niyo lahat ang senador kung meron silang nadinig sa akin. Wala siyang problema sa akin,” she stressed.
(Ask the other senators if they’ve heard anything from me. He doesn’t have any problem with me.)
According to Villar, Zubiri does not need to talk to her and Marcos since she said they are not moving to change the leadership anyway.
Zubiri, Villar said, should instead talk to those who have problems with him.
“Ang gusto ko lang na sinasabi ko sa kanila na iprotect natin ang interest ng Senate. Yun lang,” she said.
(What I am just telling them is to protect the interests of the Senate. That’s all)
Zubiri earlier mentioned that he was already addressing the concerns of some of his colleagues without elaborating.
He noted though the “stress” that it caused them in the last months because of the controversial people’s initiative for Charter change.
At that time, Zubiri said, the Senate was “under threat.”
The Senate leader promised to do more consultations and caucuses at least every week to immediately act on the concerns of his colleagues.