Villar on joining ‘supermajority’: Duterte’s ‘request’

Senator Cynthia Villar INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

It was President Rodrigo Duterte’s “request” to come together that made Senator Cynthia Villar decide to join the “supermajority” in the Senate, the senator herself said on Tuesday.

Villar was among the 20 of 24 senators who elected Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III when the 17th Congress opened Monday.

READ: Koko Pimentel takes Senate presidency by 20-3 vote

The lady senator earlier expressed support for Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who also aspired for the highest post in the Senate but failed to get the support of the majority of his colleagues. Villar and Cayetano are both members of the Nacionalista Party.

Asked what made her decide to join the supermajority, Villar said: “It’s the request of the President.”

She said the President made the request through Pimentel and Cayetano.

The senator believes that Cayetano, who was a no-show during the election of the new Senate leader, would also join the new majority group in the chamber.

“I think so. He’s very supportive of the President,” she said.

Villar also defended Cayetano’s absence during the voting, saying Pimentel already had enough votes, anyway.

The lady senator also showed no ill-feelings even after she failed to retain her chairmanship of the Senate committee on agriculture, which will now be assigned to Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, who belongs to the Liberal Party.

“Hindi, ok lang ‘yun (No, it’s okay). It’s not naman a legislative advocacy; it’s a personal advocacy so I can do it outside of the Senate,” she said.

Villar said she would instead get the chairmanship of the Senate committees on environment and natural resources, and social justice welfare and rural development.

“One of my advocacies also is environmental protection and at the same [time] another committee of mine will be rural development, which is more or less related to agriculture, so I can continue with my advocacy with regard to the environment and agriculture,” she said. JE/rga