Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Monday, May 27 rejected insinuations he is a Palace lackey and that was why he was chosen to replace Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri.
“That’s unfair, because nobody ever accused Senator Zubiri of being a palace lackey. That he was chosen by the Palace to be our Senate President,” Escudero said in an interview over ANC’s Headstart.
“We always stood up and said we chose him as our Senate President; for him to say now or accused that it is anyone other than him is a palace lackey would be unfair because the Palace does not even have a vote on this issue,” he said.
Escudero said he is not lying that the only time he initiated the move for a Senate leadership change was on Thursday, before the changes occurred on Monday, (May 20),” he pointed out.
Zubiri, in stepping down from his post as Senate leader, cited his failure to “follow instructions from the powers that be.”
Speculations arose that the reason why he was ousted was due to his failure to stop the ongoing hearings on the so-called “PDEA leaks” initiated by Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
Escudero, however, denied that the “PDEA leaks” was the reason behind Zubiri’s ouster.
Nevertheless, he said he was not interested in the position “although I have concerns myself about the direction that the leadership is taking especially with respect to Charter change.”
“I was not interested in the additional work. When I say I initiated that was when I decided that I do want to take the leadership helm of the Senate if my colleagues will support me,” he stressed.