The election of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri as Senate President is a more or less just a matter of formality when the 19th Congress begins on July 25.
The presidency of Zubiri was assured when Senator Cynthia A. Villar withdrew her bid for the highest Senate position, Senator Ronald dela Rosa told Senate reporters today.
Zubiri was the Senate Majority Leader during the 18th Congress, which adjourned sine die last June 1.
‘’We are here to support (the new President of the Republic) but still independent, magampanan natin ang mandato ng Senado (we will perform our mandate here in the Senate),’’ Dela Rosa replied when queried about his being a part of an emerging supermajority bloc in the Upper House.
‘'Nandyan tayo to support priority legislation na gusto ng Pangulo or whatever programs na gusto nya but we will maintain our independence as the Senate (We are here to support the priority legislation of the President or whatever programs he wants but we will maintain our independence as the Senate),’’ he said.
‘’It doesn’t mean naman na ang pagsangayon mo under ka na ng kabilang branch, lahat tayo ang direksyon kabutihan ng bansa (It does not mean that we give our assent to whatever the other branch of government wants),’’ he added.
Dela Rosa belongs to the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP)-Laban, Cusi wing, that supported the presidential and vice presidential bid of the Bongbong (Marcos)-Sara (Duterte) UniTeam.
Asked what are his expectations of the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Dela Rosa said; ‘’We should expect for the best... we must be optimistic sila ay inihalal ng napakalaking boto (they got the highest votes ).Expectation for them is too high.’’
‘’Ako ay nagdarasal ako ay umaasa na mas masobrahan pa nila ang kabutihang naibigay ng previous administration (I am praying that the Marcos presidency would surpass the goodness of the previous administration),’’ he stressed.
‘’Napakasarap pakinggan na ganun ang Pangulo gusto nyang sabayan ang ordinaryong pilipino sa pangarap (I am happy to hear that the President shares the dreams of ordinary Filipinos),’’ he added.