Cracks in the ‘super coalition’

While their senior elders at the Senate have been at each other’s necks, five much younger Senators bonded themselves into a power bloc. Their number is quite enough to carry the swing votes or block legislative initiatives in the 17th Congress. The five are, namely, Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva, and, Miguel “Migz” Zubiri.

The seating assignments to the 24 Senators by alphabetical order seated the five of them close to each other at the session hall. Thus, the five Senators dubbed their group as “The Seatmates” to describe for now the Senate bloc in the making at the 24-man Upper Chamber.

The five Senators are members of the so-called “super coalition” that supported the election of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III as the Senate president. Hence, they are part of the ruling majority allied with the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the current political party in power. Headed by Pimentel as party president, PDP-Laban carried former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte into victory in the May 9 presidential elections last year.

Angara is affiliated with the moribund Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP); Ejercito belongs to the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP); Gatchalian is with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC); Villanueva is formerly a party list allied with the Liberal Party (LP); and Zubiri is currently “independent,” or with no party affiliation when he run and won in 2016 elections.

Of the five Senators, Ejercito (47 years old) and Angara (44 years old) are already considered “junior” because they served the first three of their six-year term of office during the previous 16th Congress. More likely than not, both will seek a second term of office in the next May, 2019 Senate elections.

Gatchalian (42 years old) and Villanueva ( 41 years old) are freshman Senators. They won their Senate seats in last year’s elections. Also voted in last year’s elections, Zubiri is the oldest among “The Seatmates.” Actually, the 48-year-old Zubiri is a come-backing Senator.

Zubiri was forced to resign after the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) ruled in favor of the election protest filed against him by Pimentel who served Zubiri’s remaining term in office. Incidentally, the old wounds came back to haunt Zubiri and nearly came to blows with fellow Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV after the latter called him “cheater” during the heated debate at the Senate floor last week.

It was also sort of a comeback for Ejercito who obliged to serve the 90-day suspension ordered in August last year by the Ombudsman on a graft case over a gun purchase deal he did while he was still Mayor of San Juan City. Although Senate leadership did not implement the suspension order, Ejercito voluntarily served the suspension. His case, ironically, was subsequently dismissed by the Sandiganbayan in December last year.

It was a sweet victory celebrated by Ejercito with “The Seatmates” as their bloc is complete again when sessions resumed starting last week. In his Twitter account, Ejercito posted to his bloc members last week to announce that they have adopted fellow Senators Nancy Binay as the “Seatmates” sister; Richard “Dick” Gordon as their “Papa,” and Sen. Cynthia Villar as their “Mama.”

Binay belongs to the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA); Gordon is independent; and Villar is with NP.

At the surface, it seems to be one big happy family affair at the Senate with Senators crossing party lines to become one voting bloc. But apparently it is not at all that well.

Since time immemorial, the Philippine Senate has been traditionally known as composed of 24 independent “Republics” even if each are affiliated together to one political party, or in coalition.

In fact, recent history has shown and recorded that several Senators in the past have been unseated as Senate president, in some cases unceremoniously, and in certain instances in tumultuous fashion.

Removing a sitting Senate president only requires 13 votes, or the 12 plus 1 to constitute majority out of the 24 Senators.

This early, talks of ousting Pimentel as Senate president were triggered by claims made in media by Trillanes. He pointed to fellow Nacionalista Party (NP) member, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as allegedly behind the plot to oust Pimentel as Senate president.

Naturally, Cayetano vehemently denied the claims of Trillanes, citing he no longer harbors any interest to become Senate president. Cayetano is vulnerable to this intrigue because it was him who acted as the other contender during the election of Senate president.

The contest for Senate presidency was just for parliamentary formality. At that time, Pimentel had already formed the “super coalition” with fellow Senators, who included Cayetano in the majority. Cayetano got to chair the Senate foreign relations committee.

This is in preparation for Cayetano’s eventual assumption into office as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that he agreed with President Duterte to assume in the latter’s Cabinet. It would happen by the middle of 2017 when the one-year ban requirement of the law lapses against appointment into office by candidates who run but lost in the last elections.

Both Trillanes and Cayetano lost the vice presidential bid to former Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo. Cayetano ran with Mayor Duterte. Trillanes “adopted” Sen. Grace Poe who lost as “independent” candidate with fellow Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero as her VP candidate.

President Duterte has repeatedly affirmed his campaign commitment to Cayetano that the latter will be his DFA chief. He will take over from DFA Sec. Perfecto Yasay Jr. who agreed to warm the seat for the Senator.

Pimentel shrugged off ouster claims by Trillanes, citing he is not worried about keeping his post because it was never his birthright as Senate president. He is the son though of his namesake father, former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. twice served as Senate president.

Cayetano admitted, however, he raised with Pimentel the issue of the LP Senators who are openly acting as opposition leaders against President Duterte. Although they belong to the “super coalition” and enjoying the privileges reserved only for the ruling majority, Cayetano bewails LP’s stalling, if not blocking administration’s priority programs.

More than the issue of Senate leadership, the cracks of the “super coalition” from the start are now yawning wide open.

More than the issue of Senate leadership, the cracks of the “super coalition” from the start are now yawning wide open.