Sen. Estrada wants liaison office chief replaced

Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines –The head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) should be replaced for alleged failure to coordinate with senators, acting Senate President  Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said on Thursday.

Some senators cited the lack of coordination as reason why a number of bills had been vetoed  by President Benigno Aquino III.

“Palagay ko dahil sa dami ng mga bills na na-veto si President Aquino, sa palagay ko dapat palitan na siguro yung  head ng PLLO (With a number of bills vetoed by President Aquino, I think the head of the PLLO should be replaced),”  Estrada said of PLLO chief Manuel Mamba.

“Pero hindi papalitan yun… (But he will not be replaced),” he said, adding that Mamba and Senator Franklin Drilon, who is being groomed to become  the next Senate President, are friends.

Estrada was appointed acting Senate President immediately after Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile announced Wednesday his irrevocable resignation as the chamber’s chief.

Like Drilon, Estrada also pointed out that the “lack of coordination” was aggravated by the feud between the PLLO chief and former Senate President Enrile.

The two are at odds over the Cagayan politics.

Drilon made the same observation in a radio interview Wednesday.

Unlike other past PLLO heads, Estrada said he  could not recall Mamba paying a courtesy  call to  senators.

“Si Congressman  (Antonio) Roman… I remember vividly that he paid a courtesy call to all the senators.  But this guy (Mamba) never paid any courtesy call,” he said.  Roman was Mamba’s predecessor.

In fact, Estrada said, the only time he saw Mamba at the Senate was when they had a caucus on the  sin tax law.