Drilon: Senate leadership change to wait, proclamation of president, VP is priority

Senate President Franklin Drilon on Wednesday refused to talk about the possible leadership change when the 17th Congress starts on June 30, saying their priority now is the proclamation of the country’s new president and vice president.

“I do not want to talk about that at this point. It is premature. Let’s first do our duty to proclaim the newly-elected president and vice-president,” Drilon told reporters when asked on the matter.

“That’s the first order of business, so that we can provide stability and a smooth transition of power into the next administration,” he added.

He said the leaders of the 16th Congress in Senate will remain until elections take place.

“In the Senate, there is continuity, and whoever are the leaders of the 16th Congress will continue to function as such until the elections take place at the opening of Congress,” he said.

“We have gone through this before. Senator (Manny) Villar was the Senate President, and he continued to be Senate President until the elections for the new officers of the Senate took place, consistent with the Constitution, and that is at the opening,” he added.

However, it is a different story at the House of Representatives.

“In the House of Representatives, since all their terms have ended on June 30, 2016, then I think the tradition is that the Secretary-General of the House presides over the session,” Drilon said.

Drilon also said he is looking forward to work with new senators.

“I look forward to working with all of them. I have been in the Senate for 18 years, I think I know the institution. We will continue to protect the institution, protect the independence of the institution. I think that’s our duty,” he said.

Among the possible new entrants in the Senate are former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director general Joel Villanueva, Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian and former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Legislative agenda

Asked on the legislative agenda of the 17th Congress, Drilon said they will wait for the agenda of presumptive president Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, adding that the Senate will work with him.

“We will eagerly await the legislative agenda of the presumptive president Digong Duterte. He has the mandate of the people, we will work with him, but as I said we will await his legislative agenda for the next Congress,” he said.

“Remember also, the budget of the Duterte administration will be submitted to Congress within 30 days from the convening, so the transition team must be working at this point, so that the budget can be submitted on time,” he added.

He said the inputs of the incoming administration will be respected and they will expect the budget to contain the policy direction of the administration of Mayor Duterte.

“We strongly suggest that at this point, a transition team from the Duterte administration will be already formed and start talking to the transition team of the Aquino administration so that there will be a smooth transfer of power in June 30,” he said.

Drilon noted that in 1992, he was the Executive Secretary of the late President Cory Aquino and his mandate was to ensure the smooth transition of power between from the Aquino administration into the Ramos administration. 

“You must remember that the 1992 elections was the first after the People Power Revolt, so it was a very delicate process,” he said.

“We do not see such a difficulty today, due to the fact that we have had a number of elections, but we will still be vigilant in our efforts to make sure that there will be no interruptions in the smooth transition of power to the Duterte administration,” he added. — RSJ, GMA News