Palace denies hand in Mark Villar's move to majority, hits Alan Cayetano

Malacañang on Friday rejected Senator Alan Peter Cayetano's claim that the Marcos administration played a role in Senator Mark Villar's recent transfer to the majority.

In a press briefing on Friday, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said duly-elected senators think independently and cannot be forced to act against their will.

"May mga sariling isipan at pagdedesisyon ang mga senador. Hindi sila maaaring diktahan, dahil kung sila ay madidiktahan at wala silang pag-iisip, hindi sila dapat na binoboto ng taong-bayan," Castro said.

(Senators have their own minds, they can make their own decisions. They cannot be dictated upon, because if this were so and the lack independent thought, the public shouldn't vote for them in the first place.)

Reacting to Villar's transfer to the majority on Thursday, Cayetano wished the senator well and noted that he understands "too well the circumstances that lead to changes in political alliances."

Cayetano said that since May, it has become "increasingly clear how important it is for this administration to maintain a closely allied working majority in the Senate."

"But regardless of how the political landscape shifts, our duty remains unchanged. We will continue to stand for what is right, uphold our institutions, and work for the good of our nation," he added.

Castro asked Cayetano if he was thinking this way because he had experienced something similar during the previous administration.

"So 'yan lang dapat natin iparating kay Senator Alan Cayetano, dahil kung ganito ang kaniyang iniisip, naranasan niya ba ito sa panahon ng dating Pangulong Duterte, na ang kanilang mga miyembro sa Senado ay nadidiktahan?" she added.

(So that is what we should convey to Senator Alan Cayetano, because if this is how he thinks, did he experience this during former President Duterte's time—that members of the Senate were being dictated upon?)

The Senate majority now stands at 14 members following Villar's move.

Not guaranteed

According to Castro, Villar's jump to the Senate majority does not mean that he is no longer an ally of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing an impeachment trial.

She noted that this also cannot determine or predict where the impeachment trial is headed now.

"So kahit maging miyembro ang karamihan sa kanila or rather ang iba sa kanila sa majority, hindi naman nangangahulugan na magdidikta sila kung ano ang mangyayari at magaganap sa impeachment trial," Castro said.

(So even if most of them, or rather, some of them, join the majority, it does not mean they will dictate what will happen in the impeachment trial.)

Previously, during the Senate impeachment court's vote on lowering the threshold to convict Duterte in her trial, Villar was the lone senator from the minority who voted "yes."

With 13 "yes" votes from the senator-judges, the base for the two-thirds voting threshold was revised to only recognize senators who are capable of "legally and factually participating in the impeachment proceedings."

However, Castro called Villar's shift a "good message" as it could indicate that more senators now believe in the programs of the President, who aims to pass priority bills before his term ends.

"Mas maganda ang naging mensahe na ito dahil malamang mas marami na naniniwala sa kanila kung ano ba ang dapat na tunguhin at kung saan ba ang dapat na direksyon ng ating gobyerno pagdating sa pagpapagawa at pagsasabatas ng mga may kinalamang issue sa ating bansa," Castro said.

(This sends a better message because it likely shows that more of them believe in the direction and in the goals our government should pursue when it comes to crafting and enacting laws concerning key issues in our country.) — VDV, GMA News