Visibly emotional during the change of Senate leadership on Monday, May 20, it turns out that Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa cried for failing to "win the war" for Sen. Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri.
This was disclosed by the senator himself during a press conference on Tuesday, May 21.
"Gusto kong sabihin kay Migz doon (I wanted to tell Migz there): 'Sorry boss, I failed to win the war for you,'" Dela Rosa said.
This mission, according to Dela Rosa was to secure the support of PDP-Laban senators for Zubiri.
He explained that he together with party-mates Sen. Francis Tolentino and Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go had an understanding that in every voting situation, they will always join the majority.
"Yes, kaya ako napaiyak. Hindi naman sa sama ng loob nahiya ako sa kanya hindi ko napanalo ang giyera para sa kanya (That's why I cried. Not because I had ill feelings but because I failed to win the war for him)," he explained.
The senator mentioned he thought carefully about supporting the leadership change in the Senate but he was ultimately persuaded to support Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero.
Dela Rosa said that he considered joining the Senate minority bloc, but he was approached by Escudero and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to remain with the majority.
He added that his signature was already immaterial to unseat Zubiri but he still chose to support Escudero.
The Senate leadership change occurred ahead of Congress’ sine die adjournment on May 24, 2024.
With this, Escudero reportedly got the support of Senators Dela Rosa, Cynthia Villar, Mark Villar, Grace Poe, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., Tolentino, Jinggoy Estrada, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Christopher "Bong" Go, Robinhood "Robin" Padilla, Imee Marcos, Manuel "Lito" Lapid and Raffy Tulfo.