Drilon unfazed by report to unseat him

Cayetano admits eyeing Senate presidency

SENATE President Franklin Drilon said he was unfazed by the posturing of some of his colleagues who want to take his post, calling it a “natural episode” every time a new Congress opens.

Drilon will continue to keep his post until a contender gets a simple majority of a 24-member Senate needed to unseat him.

Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Alan Peter Cayetano have already expressed their intentions to seek the post while Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III claimed he was being considered by at least 11 senators.

Asked yesterday if he was threatened by the posturing of some of his colleagues, Drilon said: “I don’t. The posturing is a natural episode once a new Congress comes.”

Besides, he said, “Anyone who wants to unseat me would have to get the gift from 13 senators.”

Drilon also shrugged off the reported defections of Liberal Party (LP) members in the House of Representatives to the new administration’s coalition for change of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

Cayetano yesterday admitted that he is interested in the Senate presidency, saying that the leadership race was already a done deal. “Wala pa akong nakitang senador na hindi interested na maging Senate President, [so] let’s not be hypocritical about it,” said Cayetano, running mate of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, when asked if he was interested in the post.

“But it’s really a consensus, eh. Kailangan mo ng at least 13 senators pero sa bigat ng legislative agenda ni presumptive President, siguro kailangan mo ng majority ng between 15 to 18 kasi halimbawa sa death penalty, hindi porke sa majority eh payag na sa death penalty. Yung pagtaas ng sweldo ng police, we want to do that right away pero this early, may mga nagsasabi na you can’t do that without the others,” he said.

Senator Pimentel earlier expressed his intention to seek the post while Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III claimed that at least 11 senators are pushing for him.