As widely expected, Drilon defeats Enrile to become Senate President

By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News

Published July 22, 2013 10:37am

(Updated 12:53 p.m.) The ruling Liberal Party (LP) on Monday secured the Senate leadership with administration Senator Franklin Drilon's election as Senate President.

Drilon, LP vice-chairman, defeated Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who resigned as Senate President before the closing of the last Congress. Drilon obtained 17 votes against Enrile's six.

Having been defeated as Senate president, Enrile automatically becomes Senate minority leader.

Meanwhile, Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. was voted speaker of the House of Representatives on Monday, the same position he held during the 15th Congress.

President Benigno Aquino III has personally endorsed Belmonte, his partymate in the Liberal Party, for the position.

A total of 267 House members attended the special session Monday in preparation for Aquino’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), with Belmonte garnering 245 votes. There are 292 total available seats for the House.

Team PNoy

Drilon was nominated for the post by neophyte Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Grace Poe.

All newly-elected senators who ran under the administration coalition known as Team PNoy during the May 2013 polls voted for Drilon, who acted as their campaign manager: Angara, Bam Aquino, Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, Aquilino Pimentel III, Antonio Trillanes IV and Poe.

Senators Enrile, Pia Cayetano, Ralph Recto, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Teofisto Guingona III and Sergio Osmena III also voted for Drilon.

Likewise, Senators Lito Lapid and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., who are aligned with the Lakas-CMD associated with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, supported Drilon.

Those who voted for Enrile include his fellow members of the Senate "macho bloc:" Senators Gregorio Honasan, Jinggoy Estrada and Vicente Sotto III.

Senators Drilon, Nancy Binay and JV Ejercito also voted for Enrile.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, however, was absent during the voting.

Other Senate officers

Recto, who is also aligned with the LP, was elected as Senate President Pro-Tempore. He got the votes of all 23 senators present during the session.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who was Senate minority leader last Congress, meanwhile became Senate majority leader. Cayetano is a member of the Nacionalista Party (NP), which currently has the most seats in the Senate.

Meanwhile, lawyer Oscar Yabes was elected as Senate secretary. Retired Major General Jose Balajadia Jr. retained his post as Senate sergeant-at-arms.

Third time as Senate chief

This is Drilon's third stint as Senate President. He also led the chamber from April to November 2000 during the term of President Joseph Estrada, and from July 2001 to July 2006 under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Before becoming a senator, Drilon was also secretary of labor, secretary of justice and executive secretary of President Aquino's mother, the late President Corazon Aquino.

As Senate President, Drilon is now tasked to preside over all of the chamber's sessions, to sign documents on behalf of the whole Senate, and to diminish or increase the number of the chamber's personnel.

He also now becomes the ex-office chairman of the Commission on Appointments, which has the power to approve or disapprove appointments made by the President.

The Senate President's influence was made clear to the public last year during former Chief Justice Renato Corona's impeachment trial at the Senate, where Enrile impressed even hard-core critics with his even-handed leadership in a process that led to Corona's conviction. – RSJ/HS, GMA News

Tags: senate