Senator Imee Marcos today, May 31, said it would be improper for her younger brother, President-elect Ferdinand ‘’Bongbong’’ R. Marcos Jr., to endorse his choice for the post of Senate President.
‘’It's most unlikely and quite improper, there is separation of the three branches of the government (Executive, Judiciary and Legislative),’’ Marcos told Senate reporters who sought her opinion on the status of the race for the presidency of the Upper Chamber.
The fight for the Senate presidency was reported centered on two probables: Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri and Senator Cynthia A. Villar.
Zubiri, a re-electionist, successfully ran for the Senate under the UniTeam of then former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, and Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Villar’s son, former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, also successfully ran for the Senate post under the UniTeam.
Last week, Marcos said the fight for the Senate presidency is still fluid.
Asked today about the same issue, she said that ‘’actually we haven’t talk about it for a while, there are so many moving parts ang maliwanag ay di pa maliwanag (It is not yet clear).’’
‘’I know there are many candidates i think there still be a lot of talkings need to be done,’’ she pointed out.
‘’Magulo pa hindi ko nga alam sino talaga kakandidato,’’ she added.
Queried whether Villar has the advantage, Marcos replied: ‘’I’m not campaigning, I’m just listening," adding that all are good materials for the Senate presidency.
Marcos said Zubiri has been a majority leader under three Senate presidents and has a mastery of the rules, work ethics, comradeship with all Senate members and has been tested.
Villar, on the other hand, has a wide perspective on legislation, knows finance, agriculture and other issues.
Senator Loren Legarda, on the other hand, knows finance and environmental concerns.
Because the Philippine President will be her brother come June 30 and needs cooperation from Congress come June 30, Marcos said she sees the need for a super majority because ‘’our country faces a challenging future, we need to be together..we need a Senate Uniteam.’’
Senator Marcos said she sees the need for compromises so that there would be unity.
‘’We have to act swiftly and aggressively in order to confront dangers with us lagging economy, threat of pandemic, joblessness, rampant hunger all these things need to be address by united Legislature,’’ she added.