PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denied a hand in the recent change of leadership in the Senate.
In an interview with reporters in Brunei, Marcos said that while he is aware of plans to oust the Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, the decision was made by Zubiri’s fellow lawmakers in the upper chamber.
“The last time I spoke to him, we talked about the procurement law. This didn’t come up. So, it’s hard for me to answer simply because I’m not quite sure what he’s referring to because what instructions could there be that hindi niya natapos. Yes, that’s still unclear to me what he was referring to,” he added.
He said Senator Francis Escudero came up to him and told him that he will try to be the Senate President.
Marcos also denied speaking with any other senators regarding the matter, noting that he was out of time the day the Senate elected Escudero as the new Senate President, the third highest government official.
“So, that’s the extent. That‘s how I was basically informed at every step of the way but it moves so quickly as well. But of course, we knew the state of the voting. When that was still being collected, the votes were still being collected by Senator Chiz,” he said.
The chief executive said the decision of the senators “does not reflect on my view on Senator Migz and the trust and confidence that I have in him.”
Last week, Zubiri resigned after being ousted as Senate President.
Among the possible reasons which cost him his position, according to Zubiri, was his “failure to follow instructions” particularly on matters concerning the administration’s push for constitutional amendment.
He also presumed that the ongoing investigation of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs led by Senator Ronald dela Rosa on the alleged leak of confidential documents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that links Marcos and veteran actress Maricel Soriano, among others, to illegal drug use back in 2012 could be a factor for his ouster. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)