Sen. Franklin Drilon: Let’s wait. FILE PHOTO
KAWIT, Cavite—Sen. Franklin Drilon shrugged off “the next Senate President” title even after a Liberal Party official openly referred to him as such at the 115th Independence Day celebrations here on Wednesday.
“Eto, nagbibiro ang aking mga kasama (My companions are joking),” Drilon said when asked to comment on the way Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya introduced him as the guest speaker.
“The Senate presidency is a decision to be made by 13 senators, so let’s just wait until July 21,” he said.
Drilon, a party mate of President Aquino and campaign manager of the administration’s Team PNoy slate in last month’s elections, is poised to succeed Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile when the 16th Congress opens on July 22. Enrile stepped down from the Senate presidency last week.
“He (Drilon) would claim it is a joke but within the party, that is our plan, that is our wish, that is our way forward,” Abaya told reporters after the program here.
Drilon led the annual wreath-laying and flag-raising rites at the Aquinaldo Shrine here, the residence of the president of the first Philippine Republic, Emilio Aguinaldo, where the Philippine flag was first unfurled more than a century ago.
The senator said his being the guest of honor here was “not an indication” that the Senate leadership was in the bag.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines invited Drilon to be the guest of honor after Enrile reportedly declined.
In a speech delivered in a mixture of English and Filipino, Drilon called for unity now that the elections are over.
He cited the programs and achievements of the Aquino administration, like the conditional cash transfer program, the PhilHealth accreditation, the 66,000 additional classrooms built, and the 7.8 percent growth in the gross domestic product as results of the “daang matuwid” (straight path) policy.
A lightning rally by about 17 members of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Cavite disrupted the start of Drilon’s speech.
But he continued, saying in Filipino: “There was division among families, communities and friends in the last elections but we have to continue with our dreams for our country. The results of the last elections are a reflection of the will of our people, for good government.”
After the program, Drilon told reporters he did not mind the protest, which he said was only a demonstration of freedom of expression.
Chief Insp. Egbert Tibayan, police chief for Cavite’s tourist sites, said the protesters were taken to the Kawit police station and made to answer if they had a permit to stage a rally.