Senator-elect Robin Padilla should be given a chance to prove himself, incoming Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Monday, June 6 said.
‘’Ang payo ko naman sa kanya at sa lahat ng mga bagito na Senador ay mag-aral ng mabuti katulad ng ginawa ko nung 2007 pag pasok din sa Senado for the first time (My advice to him and for all new senators is to study hard just like what I did in 2007 when I entered the Senate for the first time),’’ he said.
‘’Kaya wag na kaming ipagsabong ng kaibigan ko at ka Uniteam ko na si Senator Robin Padilla at tulongan nalang natin siya (Please do not make me and Robin fight as he, like me, is a member of the UniTeam . Let us help him),’’ he added.
In a DWIZ radio interview last Saturday, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, a former Senate President and a bar topnotcher, said anybody can be a chairman of a Senate committee.
Reelected Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Padilla, though not a lawyer, should be given the chance to show his worth.
Gatchalian, also a member of the UniTeam senatorial slate like Zubiri, advised Padilla to engage the service of good lawyers to help him in his Senate duties since issues handled by the Constitutional Amendments Committee--which he will chair--are complicated.
Zubiri issued this statement because of a TV story that supposedly failed to include the good things he had said about Robin Padilla.
‘’Ang problema ay hindi nila sinama yan sa mga sinabi ko, as usual out of context nanaman (The problem is that there were things I said that were not included, as usual out of context again) . Remember that there is nothing in our rules that say it should be a lawyer handling certain committees, ganun lang yan minsan by tradition. For example, yung Blue Ribbon Committee is usually handled by a lawyer pero naging chairperson dyan si Senator Grace Poe na hindi abogado at maganda naman ang pagdala niya ng committee (but Senator Grace Poe had formerly chaired that committee and while she wasn't a lawyer, she handled it well)."
The controversy revolves around Padilla, a movie actor and director, wanting the chairmanship of the Senate Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and Laws Committee.
In that TV story, Zubiri said he would invite Padilla to a “one-on-one meeting” later this month regarding the committees given for him (Padilla) to lead.
“Bilang kanilang Senate President designate and hopefully elected Senate President, kakausapin ko talaga si Robin, one-on-one (As their Senate President-designate, I'll really talk to Robin).. and I’ll ask him, kaya mo ba ito? (Can you Handle this?) Do you have the legal team that can help you and assist you?” Zubiri told ABS-CBN in a phone interview on Friday.
In that story, Zubiri’s decision to meet with Padilla was in reaction to the concerns raised by some of his colleagues regarding the actor’s capability to effectively chair the constitutional amendments panel, which would involve highly-sensitive discussions about the 1987 Constitution and various codes.
Since the 8th Congress in 1986, experienced lawyers who became senators have chaired the Senate constitutional amendments panel. They are:
Richard Gordon – 8th Congress, 13th Congress
Jose “Joey” Lina, Jr – 9th Congress
Miriam Defensor-Santiago – 10th, 15th, 16th Congress
Raul Roco – 11th Congress
Edgardo J. Angara – 12th Congress
Francis Pangilinan – 17th Congress, 18th Congress
Francis Escudero – 14th Congress
Franklin M. Drilon – 17th Congress
A senator who spoke on the condition of anonymity said a group of them has already raised their concerns to Zubiri, particularly on the requirements that have to be met for one to chair such a panel.
The senator said they were told by Zubiri that Padilla was “very insistent” on getting the particular committee.