Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Tuesday confirmed that Senator Cynthia Villar has the “solid backing’ of eight senators as the next Senate president in the 19th Congress.
The eight senators, Dela Rosa, said includes him, Senators Christopher “Bong” Go, Francis Tolentino, Imee Marcos, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., Villar’s son incoming Sen. Mark Villar, incoming senator Robin Padilla, and Villar herself.
Dela Rosa called those who are for Villar as Senate president as the “Duterte senators.”
“Yung solid na mama bear ay walo. Walo kami (Those who are solidly supporting mama bear are eight. We’re eight),” Dela Rosa said, referring to Villar, in an interview at the Senate.
According to the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Villar had reached out to them before the 2022 May elections, that is why their loyalty is with Villar.
“Nauna makipag-usap sa amin si (Sen. Villar). Wala naman masamang kanin sa kanilang dalawa...walang pwedeng itapon. Parehong magagaling na leader (Sen. Villar first approached. Both of them are great leaders. You can’t deny it. Both are good leaders),” he said.
“It doesn’t mean the other one is less of a leader than the other. Pareho silang magaling, pero nauna lang kami doon nag-commit dahil nga sa nauna kaming kinausap (Both are good, but it just so happens that we have already made a commitment to her because she had already talked to us way before),” Dela Rosa explained.
However, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, another top contender for the post, talked to them about his interest in the Senate leadership only after he won a fresh six-year term in the last May polls.
“Twenty-four (24) lang kaming senador. Ang pangit naman kung parang ang loyalty mo napaka-weak (We’re only 24 senators. It doesn’t look good if you’re loyalty is weak),” he pointed out.
As far as he is concerned, Dela Rosa said he believes Villar will perform well as a Senate president, describing her as a “sincere person.”
Villar, he said, is also somebdoy who does something when she says it.
“Yun yung hanap natin an leader na totoo pag kausap. Hindi yung masyadong politiko. Iba yung sinasabi, iba yung ginagawa (That’s what we look for in a leader, one who is genuine. Not somebody who is too much of a politician, whose words are different from their actions),” Dela Rosa said.
Nevertheless, Dela Rosa said it is up to Zubiri and Villar to talk and thresh things out in order to come up with a supermajority bloc.
Sources said Zubiri’s group already has the backing of 12 senators, while other senators are still uncertain of whom they would support as the next Senate leader.
Marcos, sister of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. on Sunday disclosed that none of those vying for the Senate presidency have yet secured the needed 13 votes.