Belmonte says he worked very well with Enrile

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Throughout the three years of sharing the leadership of the 15th Congress, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said that he had “worked very well” with resigned Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

“I want to make it clear that I myself as Speaker here and he as Senate President, we worked very well during the three years that we shared the 15th Congress,” he told reporters hours after Enrile announced his resignation Wednesday.
But he declined to comment on the issues within the Senate, saying “they have their own politics, they have their own dynamics.”

“I am just very happy that during the term of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, we were able to work very well together,” said Belmonte.

“I respect him. I’ve known him since he was Finance Secretary and through the ups and downs of his career,” he added.

Both leaders worked to impeach former Chief Justice Renato Corona last year but Belmonte said that there had been more pressure on Enrile’s shoulders then as he had been at the helm of the impeachment trial.

“It was in the Senate that we spent a couple of months with him at the helm. That was a very trying assignment,” he said.

Both chambers of Congress are set to resume session within the day to tackle unfinished business and finally adjourn sine die.