Congress leaders have met with President-elect Ferdinand ‘’Bongbong’’ R. Marcos Jr, and discussed their legislative agendas and the forthcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the incoming President on July 25.
Present during the meeting were the incoming President, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel ‘’Migz’’ Zubiri and his House of Representatives counterpart, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
It was held at the UniTeam headquarters in Mandaluyong city today (May 31)
Nine other senators were with Zubiri during the meeting. They were Senators Nancy Binay, Ronald Dela Rosa, Joseph Victor ‘’JV’’ Ejercito, Jose ‘’Jinggoy’’ Estrada, Manuel ‘’Lito’’ Lapid, Loren Legarda, Ralph Recto, Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, and Raffy Tulfo.
Iloilo Representative Janet Garin and Isabela Representative Tonypet Albano joined Romualdez.
The fight for the Senate presidency was reported to be fluid but Zubiri reportedly has the edge over Senator Cynthia A. Villar.
Zubiri led the senators in discussing legislative plans for the next six years of the Marcos administration while Romualdez who is expected to become the next Speaker presented programs on the part of the House.
Zubiri was quoted in a report as saying that Marcos has already expressed his desire for congressional leaders to immediately “shape up” the legislative agenda for the next Congress.
“He instructed me and incoming Speaker Romualdez to sit down and discuss possible legislative agenda for the SONA , discussions for the SONA,” he said.
Zubiri, who successfully ran for a re-election under the Marcos UniTeam, said he committed to next Chief Executive that he would help him whether or not he becomes the next Senate president.
“So, we have a series of meeting and we’ve been discussing how we can assist the President-elect on his legislative agenda for the 19th Congress,” he explained.
The visit of the Congress leaders followed a visit last Monday to the UniTeam Mandaluyong headquarters where Marcos received ambassadors from Singapore, United Kingdom, France, and European Union during their separate calls.
Senator Cynthia A. Villar is the mother of Senator-elect Mark Villar.
There are reports that Villar was reportedly offered a term-sharing agreement with Zubiri.
Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa disclosed today that Villar has discussed with him of her willingness for a term sharing with Zubiri.
Dela Rosa is backing Vilalr’s bid for the Senate presidency.
The proposed term-sharing was not brought out by Zubiri during his visit to President-elect Marcos.
Romualdez was reported sure of winning the House speakership for the 19th Congress.
President-elect Marcos is from Luzon while Romualdez, his cousin, is from Eastern Visayas.
Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio and Zubiri are from Mindanao.
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are the Philippines’ three biggest islands.
Read more:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/31/dela-rosa-says-8-duterte-senators-back-cynthia-villar-as-next-senate-president/