“I don't mind if there's one (election of a new Senate president) before May 10.... Strictly speaking there is enough time but because of all this talk of uncertainties that even Malacañang [has said] 'Let's be prepared,' I don't think it would hurt. And I mean no disrespect to the sitting (Senate) president,” Cayetano said at a round-table discussion with Inquirer editors and reporters.
Cayetano agreed to the Senate special session proposed by Senator Rodolfo Biazon in order to elect a new Senate president to replace Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is seeking re-election.
“If we talk about special sessions for all these... issues, why not have a special session for such a grave situation?” Cayetano said, adding: “Consistent with my statement that if we're looking at certainty and continuity, why not before [the May 10 elections]? Why not? To be honest, I haven't thought long and hard about this. But if you think about it, what do you lose? If we have the election (for Senate president), you only gain. You gain by having it, you don't lose anything by having it sooner.”
Senator Edgardo Angara had earlier called for the election of a new Senate president, preferably before the May 10 elections, so there would be someone to act as president in case the country's first automated elections fail.
Angara had pointed out that the line of succession would be broken at midnight of June 30 because the terms of office of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles will expire then.
Angara had proposed that all 23 senators elect a new Senate president from among the 12 senators who will be serving until 2013.
Biazon, who has said he had prepared a bill that provides for the election of an acting or caretaker Senate president among the 12, has proposed the exclusion of three senators—Manuel Villar, Jr., Benigno Aquino, III, and Loren Legarda—because they are running for election in May.
The choice, then, would be narrowed to the nine remaining senators—Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Joker Arroyo, Edgardo Angara, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Gregorio Honasan, Francis Pangilinan, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Antonio Trillanes IV.
When asked who her choice would be for the next Senate president, Cayetano named Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel.
“Of course I am in the opposition so let's limit our choices there. I'd say Nene Pimentel because he's the minority floor leader. He has always shown his leadership when it comes to shepherding the minority,” Cayetano said.
However, Pimentel would be wrapping up his Senate term this year.
In a follow-up statement, Cayetano said that whoever is chosen as the next Senate president should be an incumbent or one whose term will end in 2013; is not running for any position in the May 10 elections; and is not supporting any presidential candidate.
Of the 12 senators with terms up to 2013, Cayetano said that “it appears that the names who fit the bill are Angara, Arroyo, and Escudero.”
Her own brother, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, is one of the spokespersons of Villar and has been openly campaigning for the billionaire-politician's presidential bid.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
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