Escudero reaches out to Duterte bloc amid Senate shake-up murmurs

Senate President Francis Escudero has already reached out to the so-called Duterte bloc amid talks of a possible leadership change in the upper chamber.—Photo from the Senate

MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Francis Escudero has already reached out to the so-called Duterte bloc amid talks of a possible leadership change in the upper chamber.

This was according to Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who identified his other colleagues in the Duterte bloc as incumbent Sens. Robin Padilla, Imee Marcos, Christopher “Bong” Go, and Senator-elect Rodante Marcoleta.

“Merong mga text -text (There were some text messages),” Dela Rosa said in a phone interview on Tuesday when asked if Escudero had already talked to their group.

The senator refused to disclose Escudero’s text messages, saying they have to discuss it first with their group.

But Dela Rosa confirmed the messages were all about the chamber’s leadership in the upcoming 20th Congress.

Asked if he wants Escudero replaced as Senate president, Dela Rosa said: “So far so good naman kami. Wala man kaming problema.”

(So far, so good. We haven’t had any problems.)

Talks of a possible Senate leadership change started when Senator-elect Vicente “Tito” Sotto III openly declared his willingness to challenge Escudero during the 20th Congress.

Sotto only needs to secure the support of at least 13 of 24 senators to clinch the Senate presidency.

But in case he fails to return as Senate chief,  Sotto said he would want to lead the Senate committee on ethics so he can restore the chamber’s good image.

READ: Tito Sotto wants ethical standards for senators

“There should be ethical standards for senators. We should be strict on the rules if we want the public to see a good image of the Senate — decent and orderly,” he said in an interview last Friday.

“That’s what we want, and that’s how the Senate was during the four and a half years I served as Senate President,” Sotto added. /ca/abc

NOTE: The English translations in the article were AI-generated