News Roundup 25 July 2022
Jul 25, 2022 • 5 min Read
Zubiri is new Senate President | INQUIRER.NET – Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri was officially installed as Senate President on Monday. At the opening day of the 19th Congress, Zubiri was unanimously elected Senate president by his colleagues after six of 24 senators nominated him for the post. The six who nominated Zubiri for the top Senate post were Senators Joel Villanueva, Loren Legarda, Jinggoy Estrada, Grace Poe, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, and JV Ejercito. “This institution must serve the Filipino people, and with Senator Zubiri at its helm, steering and charting its course, it can do much more,” Villanueva said. He also described Zubiri as “the most qualified and eligible” to lead the upper chamber. “For the above reasons and more, I nominate the gentleman from Bukidnon, Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, as our next Senate President,” he then said. No one objected when Villanueva later moved to elect Zubiri as the new Senate leader. Senator Pia Cayetano and her brother, Alan Peter Cayetano, later took the floor and manifested that they did not participate in the voting as they opted to become independent. Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Risa Hontiveros said they also abstained from the voting. Before assuming his new post, Zubiri served as the Senate Majority Floor Leader in the 18th Congress. He was elected Senate President Pro Tempore before Congress adjourned last June 4 to ensure the continued discharge of powers and duties of the Senate leadership until the opening of a new Congress. After winning his reelection bid in the last May senatorial race, Zubiri was among those immediately mentioned as one of the possible contenders for the top Senate post.
Romualdez installed as House Speaker of 19th Congress | INQUIRER.NET – Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez was installed as Speaker of the House of Representatives during the opening of the 19th Congress Session on Monday. Romualdez, who was the former majority speaker during the 18th Congress, was nominated by his nephew, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Alexander Marcos. Romualdez got 282 votes, while four abstained and one voted no. There were also 22 members who failed to vote. The four who abstained are the three members of the Makabayan bloc — Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list Rep. France Castro, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel — and OFW party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino. Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman meanwhile voted no. During the end of the session, the House announced that all who abstained, voted no, and failed to vote will be asked to meet so that a minority floor leader would be voted among them. The installation of Romualdez as House Speaker has been expected by many observers in Congress, as he earned the support of lawmakers from his own party, Lakas-CMD, and other political groups like the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC). He also got the backing of key officials from the House, like former speakers Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Marcos’ presidency proves democracy can make mistakes, says electoral coalition | PHILSTAR.COM – Right before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), coalition Laban ng Masa underscores that his family’s return to power is “proof that democracy, while still the best system of governance, can make mistakes.” The coalition went after Marcos Jr. for failing to participate in some of the public debates during the campaign, which is integral to a democracy in the process of electing a new leader. “[He showed] that one of the fundamental principles of democratic rule can be subverted in a weak democracy by unprincipled forces who resort instead to manipulating historical memory and mass psychology by harnessing the dark side of information technology,” Laban ng Masa said in a statement on Monday. During one of the debates held in March, then Laban ng Masa vice presidential candidate Walden Bello threatened to walk out after calling out the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for not imposing stricter sanctions on the Marcos-Duterte tandem. The president won the polls after only attending the SMNI-sponsored debate, his camp previously said they preferred “direct communication with the people and engage them in a more personal face-to-face interaction.” Marcos Jr. and his then-running mate, Vice President Sara Duterte, did not even attend the debates organized by the Comelec. The coalition also said the president was only elected to power by leveraging their social media strategy. “If the unrepentant son of a dictator is in power today, that is partly because billions were spent to exploit the weaknesses of our frail democracy, notably by creating via the internet a totally false image of the reign of his father and airbrushing the toxic features of the present generation of Marcoses,” Laban ng Masa said. Earlier this year, social media platform Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts promoting Marcos Jr. for violating the social media platform’s rules on spam and manipulation. A report by the Washington Post showed that pro-Marcos propaganda has dominated social media platforms such as TIktok and Youtube during the campaign. Marcos Jr., son of late despot and namesake, does not recognize the rights violations done during his father’s regime and even casted doubt on rights group Amnesty International’s reports.
