Duterte can count on cooperative Congress

With his party clinching the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte could expect a cooperative Congress.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, president of Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), on Wednesday confirmed that he has the back of 17 of his colleagues to be the next Senate President.

Pimentel is the lone PDP-Laban in the 24-member Senate. But with a President riding on a landslide victory in the May 9 elections, Pimentel easily enlisted the support of the largely yellow Senate, now dominated by President Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP).

In the House, incoming Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, one of only three PDP-Laban in the chamber, has garnered the support of 200 of the 290-member representatives— mostly Liberals—and is assured of taking over as Speaker from the LP’s Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

Pimentel plays down suggestions that Duterte will have a pliant Congress as he attempts to push through a far-reaching legislative agenda that includes reviving the death penalty and putting the nation on the path to federalism.

“Supportive and cooperative, not rubber stamp. Imaginative, too,” Pimentel said in a text message on Wednesday when asked to describe the Senate under his watch.

Very qualified

Outgoing Senate President Franklin Drilon insists the upper chamber will “maintain its independence” but will support Duterte’s legislative proposals.

“We decided on Koko. He is very qualified. We want to show support, in general, in the legislative agenda of the Duterte administration, as we recognize that they have the mandate of the people,” he said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

Drilon, who will be the senate president pro tempore in the 17th Congress, said Pimentel would provide “stability” in the Senate.

Asked how he could assure the independence of the Senate, Drilon said, “You look at the tradition of the Senate, and the tradition has always been we act independently of the executive branch.”

The 16th Congress ousted the late Chief Justice Renato Corona after President Aquino released huge amounts of pork barrel funds before to the lawmakers and during his impeachment and subsequent trial in Senate.