Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito had apologized to Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon for saying that Liberal Party (LP) senators should decide whether or not to stay with the “supermajority bloc” in the Senate since they vote against it most of the time.
READ: Ejercito dares LP senators in ‘supermajority’ to show true colors
Ejercito said he texted Drilon to apologize because he felt that the latter got “hurt” and “offended” by his remark.
“Yes (I apologized to Drilon) because I feel that he got hurt. And in fairness to him when I was in the opposition, he treated me very well and with respect while he was Senate President. Since I offended him, I texted him to apologize,” he said in a text message to reporters.
“He accepted my apology right away and told me nothing has changed and though he was hurt, he will continue to support me as a colleague,” he said.
But Ejercito did not give a categorical answer when asked if, after his apology, there is still a need for LP senators to choose between the majority or the minority group.
Instead, the senator said: “Our political system is the problem. We don’t have a strong two-party system, which explains the kind of dynamics we have in the Senate.”
The LP senators who are in the Senate majority group are Drilon, Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam Aquino and Leila de Lima. Akbayan Senator Rissa Hontiveros, who ran under the LP ticket in the May 2016 polls, is also part of the majority bloc.
READ: LP senators to stay with Senate majority despite De Lima ouster
Another LP member, Senator Ralph Recto, is leading the minority group, along with Senators Francis Escudero and Antonio Trillanes IV.
Drilon, in an interview, confirmed that Ejercito had apologized to him.
Ejercito’s remark against the LP senators came after they voted against the majority on a motion to reconsider the committee referral of Drilon’s resolution that seeks a possible overhaul of the Bureau of Immigration amid the alleged P50-million bribery scandal involving some of its officials. IDL