Press Release
21 June 2007
MIRIAM: SENATE SECRET BALLOT IMPRACTICAL
Responding to media queries, administration Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that the reported plan of the Senate opposition senators to use secret balloting for choosing the next Senate President is "too utopian and impractical."
The opposition has announced that they will vote as a bloc for one of them to be Senate President, after he or she is chosen through secret balloting.
"There are three reasons why the plan will not work. One, the opposition is not monolithic. Two, there is no remedy if someone does not follow the gentleman’s agreement. Three, the purported agreement requires the consent of the main contenders, who are Senators Villar and Pimentel," Santiago said.
Santiago said that although the opposition can count with nine members, it still needs to convince two independent senators to join the bloc, namely, Senators Pangilinan and Honasan.
"In an ideal world, the opposition should remain united. But this is an illusion, because Senate history shows that after the elections, every senator believes himself to be a free agent,” Santiago said.
Santiago also added that there is no formal written agreement for the opposition bloc to remain solid.
"Unity in the opposition is only a hope, not a reality. There is no written document, and even if there were, it would not be legally binding. You can’t go to court to enforce a so-called gentleman’s agreement, specially among politicians," she said.
Santiago said that the two most serious contenders for Senate presidency are Senators Villar and Pimentel, neither of whom has declared that he will voluntarily follow the purported agreement.
"It would be anomalous to bind two senators who are not parties to the agreement. Senators Villar and Pimentel will have to speak for themselves," she added.
Santiago, after dismissing the reported secret balloting procedure of the opposition, predicted that the next Senate President will be supported by a coalition of both administration and opposition senators, following "an established pattern" in the Senate.
"Tying down a senator’s right to cast his vote is like attempting to domesticate a wild bull. It can’t be done, and it might backfire in the sense that the bull might turn around and gore his tormentors," she said.
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