The search and eventual election of a Senate President in the forthcoming 19th Congress is on.
But what are the qualities that the next Senate chief should possess?
Senate reporters threw this poser to out-going Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, 73, who ran but ‘’lost’’ in the May 9, 2022 vice presidential race.
The election of the next Senate President is on July 25, the formal opening of the 19th Congress.
‘’I’ve served nine Senate Presidents, honed by some of them. I know what the qualities of the next SP (Senate President) should be,’’ he said.
Sotto said the ‘’chosen one’’ must possess a mastery of parliamentary rules and procedures, a consensus builder, independent minded, stern but compassionate. Always present and never late.’’
‘’At the risk of sounding like describing myself, it is the technique i followed to the letter!,’’ he stressed.
Sotto is chairman of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), a conservative party founded by late Ambassador Eduardo ‘’Danding’’ Cojuangco.
Should the next Senate President be a lawyer? The answer is ‘’not really.’’
Sotto is not a lawyer. Former Senate Presidents Manuel Villar and Blas Ople are not lawyers.
There are at present three lawyers-senators whose terms expire in 2025 and there are two lawyers-senators who ‘’won’’ in the May 9, 2022 elections.
The three are Juan Edgardo ‘’Sonny’’ Angara, Pia S. Cayetano and Francis Tolentino.
The two who ‘’won’’ in the May 9 polls are former Senator Francis Escudero and former Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano.
The Cayetanos are siblings.
Some of the past Senate President who are lawyers include the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., Jovito S. Salonga, Neptali Gonzales, Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Marcelo Fernan, Franklin M. Drilon and Aquilino Pimentel III.
Of the 12 candidates who ‘’won’’ in the May 9 senatorial election are re-electionist Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros, Joel Villanueva and Sherwin Gatchalian.
Former senators who are also in the May 9 winning column are Loren Legarda, Alan Peter S. Cayetano, JV Ejercito and Jose ’’Jinggoy’’ Estrada.