Malacañang says Marcos admin no hand in Villar joining majority bloc

SINGAPORE – Malacañang on Friday denied having a hand in Senator Mark Villar’s move to the Senate majority bloc, maintaining that senators cannot be dictated to and are capable of deciding for themselves.

This was in response to Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, who earlier said that it has “become increasingly clear how important it is for this administration to maintain a closely allied working majority in the Senate”

“Si Senator Alan Cayetano, simula nang mahalal na Senate President hanggang sa matanggal siya bilang Senate President, wala siyang ibang sinisisi kundi ang administrasyon,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a press briefing Friday, October 9, on the sidelines of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s working visit to Singapore.

Castro maintained that the Marcos administration had nothing to do with the Senate ruckus in the previous months, such as the Senate leadership dispute, the shooting incident, and the ‘escape’ of Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa.

“Hindi ito ninais ng administrasyon. Hindi ito dikta ng administrasyon. May mga sariling isipan at pagdedesisyon ang mga senador; hindi sila maaaring diktahan,” she stated.

“Dahil kung sila ay madidiktahan at wala silang pag-iisip, hindi sila dapat na binuboto ng taumbayan. So, iyan ang dapat nating iparating kay Senator Alan Cayetano dahil kung ganito ang kaniyang iniisip, naranasan niya ba ito sa panahon ni dating Pangulong Duterte na ang kanilang mga miyembro sa Senado ay nadidiktahan?” Castro added.

The Palace official also believes the dominant number of the majority bloc would not necessarily mean a certain conviction for Vice President Sara Duterte, who is the subject of an impeachment trial.

“Hindi natin masasabi iyan. Katulad ng aking sinabi, ang bawat senador ay magdedesisyon nang naaayon sa kanyang evaluation, sa kanyang paniniwala, sa kanyang pakikipagkampihan. So, kahit marami ang sumama sa majority dito sa Senado, hindi nangangahulugan na hindi sila kakampi kay VP Sara Duterte. So, depende pa rin po iyan sa kanilang magiging desisyon,” she said.

Castro said she hopes the senator-judges would base their votes on evidence and not on their alliances.

“Ang dasal lang natin, at marahil ito rin ang dasal ng lahat ng ating mga kababayan, mag-decide lang sila base sa ebidensya, hindi base sa kaalyado nila o kakampi sila,” she said.

“So, dapat base lang sa ebidensya dahil ang magwawagi dito ay hindi ang Senado, hindi iyong impeached official, kundi ang taumbayan,” the Palace official added.