MANILA — Senate President Francis Escudero on Monday maintained that he does not consider predecessor Juan Miguel Zubiri and his seven-member bloc that includes Sen. Joel Villanueva, Sonny Angara, JV Ejercito, Win Gatchalian, Nancy Binay, and Loren Legarda as his enemies.

"Kung magkausap kami, 'di ko naman sila iniiwasan kung marahil magkausap kami dito sa Senado mismo o sa labas kung magkita... Wala akong nakikitang rason para di kami maging maayos ang relasyon bagaman magkaiba ang pananaw namin sa ilang mga bagay." Escudero said.

(If there is a chance to talk, I am not avoiding them. There is no reason for us not to get along despite our differences)

Escudero told media he is open to initiating talks but he is busy with the new job. He believes it may also be good to give the issue some time.

ZUBIRI GROUP TO BE INDEPENDENT BLOC IN MAJORITY

Sen. Nancy Binay told Teleradyo Serbisyo on Sunday that their "Solid 7" group will be an independent bloc within the majority for now.

"So, sa amin mababago ang — mas independent ang mindset namin ngayon. Alam natin when you're part of the majority may bagay-bagay na you have to compromise. But at this point hindi na yung level of compromise namin is not as big as before." Binay said." Yes. Mas may leeway to move dahil nga yung pagiging independent bloc namin."

(What will change for us is being more independent. When you are part of the majority, there are some issues you have to compromise on. But at this point, we won't compromise as much. We will have more leeway to move as an independent bloc.)

READ: New Senate leaders emerge as some panels remain vacant

BETRAYED

Binay over the weekend told media in interviews their group feels betrayed, especially by collegaues who had assured Zubiri of their support.

"That's the prevailing emotion. Kasi nga, buti sana kung yung mga kasamahan ko tamad, hindi pumapasok. Makikita n'yo naman kung sinong from beginning to end ng session kung sinong naiiwan sa floor. Kaya siguro ganito na lang ang nararamdaman namin." Binay said.

(We would understand it if we were lazy, or missed session. But you can see who was on the Senate floor from the beginning to the end of the session. Maybe that's why we feel this way.)

She said members of the group were in tears because they did not get a heads up of what was going to happen, not even a text message to say that their allies were shifting allegiances.

"And 'yun na nga, hanggang ngayon hindi naman nila sinasabi ano ba talaga yung dahilan kung bakit napunta sila sa kabila," she added.

(And, until now, they haven't told us the real reason they shifted their support.)

READ: Was Zubiri's ouster because of Revilla's sore foot?

Senator Bong Revilla told ABS-CBN News he was the first to sign for Escudero. Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said Senator Robinhood Padilla was the first from their bloc of PDP senators to sign. The other PDP senators are Tolentino, Ronald dela Rosa and Bong Go.

"Pero matagal yung diskusyon. Ayokong isiwalat lahat. Hayaan na natin ang detalye at ang laman noon at kung tama ang naging direksyon. Ang kasaysayan na lang ang humusga at maglabas," Tolentino said.

(It was a long discussion and I don't want to go into detail. Let history judge whether that was the right decision.)

MORE ORGANIZED?

The Senate coup was not the first attempt to replace Zubiri and Escudero was not the intended beneficiary of previous tries.

Binay explained that it seems that this effort was more organized.

"Siguro kasi nagkaroon siguro sila ng tasking? Si ganito in charge sa ganitong grupo, kaya I think they were able to get the numbers. Mukhang ganoon, kasi pag sa floor nakikita mo kung sino kumakausap sa kung kani-kanino eh."

(I guess there were assignments on who would try rto convince which group, that's how they were able to gather numbers. Because you could see who was talking to who on the floor.)

The night before the coup, he got individual resolutions of support from at least 13, with more to come afterwards. Separately, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada confirmed he talked to one colleague for Escudero's leadership.

This bucks tradition because, in the past, a resolution of support would be routed among senators and they would jockey to be the 13th signature, which is considered to the swing vote in the 24-seat Senate. This is considered the more statesmanly way of changing the chamber's leadership and would spare the institution from a potentially explosive vote on the floor. 

It also distinguishes the Senate from the House, where past leadership changes tended to be very dramatic and messy.

That triggered the resignations of Ejercito from his deputy majority leadership and of Angara from the Finance committee, Youth Committee and Economic Charter Change Sub-committee.

REVILLA'S FOOT SURGERY

The only thing that's clear to Binay now is that one possible reason for her colleagues' change of heart is Zubiri's refusal of Revilla's request to be permitted to attend sessions remotely as he recuperates from his foot surgery.

"Pero kasi siguro dapat intindihin din nila kung, kasi di ba nung una pinagbigyan, pumayag kami na mag-Zoom siya, tapos lahat kami nagulat na lang na nasa Manila Polo Club na siya at naga-attend ng isang event, na to begin with, it was already an accommodation ang unang pagpayag namin dahil ang nasa rules namin kailangan COVID-19 or highly-communicable disease which hindi pasok ang sakit niya," Binay said.

(You see, that was initially allowed, and then we were surprised that he was at the Manila Polo Club attending an event. We had already accomodated him because remote attendance was supposed to be for those who have COVID-19 or other highly-communicable disease.)

Escudero disputes that could be a reason, stressing it was not a common denominator among those who voted for the change. He pointed out that Villanueva had voted to allow Revilla to attend Senate sessions over Zoom.

Binay added that aside from the reason for Zubiri's ouster being unclear, it was also strange to see their colleagues honoring them and apologizing to them.

"Ang sa akin is, if iba-iba ang kanilang reason, bakit lahat kayo lapit nang lapit kay Sen. Migz at naga-apologize. Kulang na lang lumuhod sila at humingi ng patawad," Binay added.

(If you had different reasons, why apologize to him?)

She added: "Alam mo naman ang proseso diyan sa Senado. Why file a Senate resolution honoring yung tatlong officers kung may pagkakamali at may kasalanan sila sa iyo? So parang weird. Puro papuri pero tinanggal naman nung Monday."

(Why file a resolution honoring the three officers if they did wrong by you? So, it's a little weird. You praise them but you ousted them.)

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