An incredible feat

In the first post-Martia Law congressional elections held in 1987, the senatorial candidates of the Cory Aquino administration almost swept the senatorial election.  Only two oppositionists, Joseph Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, won. Subsequently, Estrada shifted to the majority, leaving Enrile as the only member of the minority.

Now, 23 years later, Enrile was catapulted to the Senate presidency for the second time with the unanimous support of the senators. This is probably the first time in the country’s legislative history that all the members of the Senate rallied behind one candidate for nation’s third highest post.

Enrile was reluctant to run for re-election because he finds it too taxing and time-consuming for a man of his age. To prove  that he was not interested in the Senate presidency, he signed a resolution endorsing the candidacy of Francis Pangilinan for the post. But since Pangilinan (Liberal Party) and Manuel Villar (Nacionalista Party) failed to muster the required 13 votes, the 86-year old parliamentarian from Cagayan was prevailed upon by his colleagues to make himself available for the leadership contest.

That Enrile emerged victorious in the fight could only be described as an incredible feat, given the equation of political forces in the Senate.  Compared to the numerically superior NP and LP, the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, of which Enrile is the chairman emeritus, is a puny force.  In fact, Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada, who was reelected Senate President Protempore,  are the only PMP members in the chamber.

Former President Josesph Estrada, the PMP standard bearer in the last elections, may not have succeeded in recapturing Malacañang in the May polls. But undoubtedly, his party received an infusion of strength from Enrile’s triumph in the Senate.

Consider also that former Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay Estrada’s runningmate, won the vice presidency, which softened the blow over the latter’s loss.

After the election of the Senate president came the division of the spoils. We were surprised when Enrile announced that the Liberal Party’s Frank Drilon will chair the finance committee, the most important committee in the chamber.  We thought that Enrile had left it to Sen. Edgardo Angara and Drilon to settle the issue of who between them should head this committee.  Angara, who held the finance committee in the last two years, however assured Enrile that his rivalry with Drilon over the finance committee will not hinder their goal of a “unity Senate.”

Drilon later disclosed that Enrile had offered the committee to him.

We thought that Angara had a good chance of retaining his chairmanship of the finance committee because he headed the bloc of senators that supposedly came out in support of Enrile in the leadership fight ahead of other groups. The Angara bloc’s support forced the Villar and Pangilinan camps to rethink their positions and negotiate with Enrile for an alliance. Angara’s bloc also include Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ramon Revilla, Jr. Loren Legarda, Lito Lapid, Gregorio Honasan and Vicente Sotto.

Honasan and Sotto were instrumental in convincing the Angara bloc to go for Enrile.  But even after the choice was made by the group, we were surprised to hear from Enrile last Thursday that he had not yet met with Angara.  Instead, Enrile revealed that Drilon and fellow Liberal Sen. Ralph Recto visited him at his room at the Makati Medical Center Tuesday to urge him to take another crack at the Senate presidency due to the unresolved stalemate. But whether Drilon and Recto came out of their own initiative or upon the instruction of the LP leadership was unclear.

Then on Thursday evening, Enrile met with Villar at his residence in Makati City.  On hand to witness the meeting were Alan Peter Cayetano, NP secretary general, Honasan and Sotto. But Enrile said no political matters were discussed at the meeting which was held at the behest of the Villar group.  Enrile said Villar raised the issue of whether the C-5 road scandal would be revived under the new Senate. He said the investigation report on the controversy had been archived.

The following day, the Villar and the Angara groups met and they firmed up their stand to support Enrile for Senate president.  The Villar group includes Alan Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Ferdinand Marcos. Jr. Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago was represented at the meeting by her husband, Narciso Santiago.  In the evening, Honasan and Sotto returned to Enrile’s residence to inform him of the stand of the Villar-Angara groups that if he would make himself available for the Senate presidency, he could expect full support from them.

Amid these frenzied activities, Pangilinan met with Enrile Friday noon and told him he could not gather the votes to clinch the top Senate post. “I release you from your commitment to support me,” Pangilinan said.

When LP leaders got wind of the unified stand of the Villar-Angara groups to support Enrile, they invited Enrile to a meeting in Malacañang.  President Benigno Aquino III himself was present at the meeting wherein the LP stalwarts extended their support to Enrile. The following day, Pangilinan formally announced his withdrawal from the leadership race.

Enrile admitted that while he was appreciative of the support of the Villar group, he did not right away accept their offer of an alliance. Enrile pointed out that it was with the LP that he tried to work out an alliance by supporting Pangilinan’s candidacy.  Presumably, Enrile was already thinking at that point that the appropriate role for the Villar group was to step into the role of minority.  But what complicated the situation was that the Villar group was working in tandem with the Angara group.

And without the support of  either the Villar group or the Angara group or both, Enrile would not be able gather a majority of 13 votes. The LP has only four senators – Drilon, Pangilinan, Recto and Teofisto Guingona III and their closest allies are independent Senators Serge Osmena III and Francis Escudero. If you add Enrile, Estrada,  Honasan and Sotto, they will have only 10 senators.

The dilemma over having no minority in the Senate was solved when Alan Cayetano volunteered to act as minority leader. At the election of Senate officials  at the opening session Monday,  Joker Arroyo nominated Cayetano as candidate for Senate president.  Obviously, Cayetano was just a token candidate. Cayetano got only three votes – from his sister Pia Cayetano, Arroyo and Enrile. By parliamentary tradition, the defeated candidate for Senate president automatically becomes the minority leader.

Enrile commended Cayetano for his gesture. “It was kind enough of Alan to present himself as the minority leader because I told him, perform the functions of a minority floor leader.  He saw me and talked to me about it. I said I welcome it. They are not a company union. This is real. It is better to have in a house like the Senate to always take the opposition side of the debate.” –Fel V. Maragay, Manila Standard Today