Senator JV Ejercito issues challenge to LP senators in the supermajority. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Since they always vote against the majority, senators who are part or allied with the Liberal Party should decide whether to stay with the so-called “supermajority bloc” in the Senate or just join the minority group, Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said on Tuesday.
“In the recent months, pansin ko, tulad kahapon, kapag may voting tungkol sa issues, and other things, minsan nakikita mo na yung totoong linya ng majority and yung totoong minority—yung totoong majority and yung totoong minority,” Ejercito said.
(In the recent months, I’ve observed, just like yesterday (Monday), that when it comes to voting on issues and other things, sometimes you can see the real line of the majority and the true minority – the true majority and the true minority.)
“Medyo sabihin na nating, hilaw eh (Call it phony). They are with the majority but most of the times they vote against the majority. I think we have to define already, lines have to be drawn, [what’s the real deal] because you cannot just go on enjoying the benefits of being in the majority but also at the same time you are also attacking and going against the majority,” he said.
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The senator was referring to Monday’s session of the chamber where four LP senators voted against the majority on the committee referral of Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon’s resolution, seeking a possible overhaul of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after the reported P50 million bribery scandal.
The four LP senators, who belong to the majority bloc, are Drilon, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Leila de Lima, and Bam Aquino. Another LP member, Senator Ralph Recto, is head of the minority group. Akbayan Sen. Risa Hontiveros ran under the LP ticket in the May 2016 but she is also part of the Senate majority group.
Asked if the members and those allied with LP, who are part of the majority, should just join the minority, Ejercito said: “Probably. They have to already make a decision, whether to stay with the majority or be with the minority.”
But Drilon said there was no reason for them to leave the majority group.
“We were elected by the majority. We were part of the majority that voted for Koko,” he said, referring to Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
“We find no reason. We will stay where we are,” Drilon added./ac/rga