Ceasefire at the Senate’s C-5 warzones—for now

The Senate leadership on Wednesday decided to shelve for a day the committee report censuring Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on the C5 road project mess and a separate resolution clearing him of any wrongdoing on the same issue, so that the lawmakers could prioritize measures pending on the floor. In an interview before the start of the session, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said he requested his colleagues to discuss first the pending bills. "The majority is asking for ceasefire today for one day," he said, adding that they will be discussing the Freedom of Information bill, the senior citizens' bill, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities, and the immigration bill, among others. Zubiri said he talked with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile earlier in the day to defer the discussion of the committee report on the C5 road mess. "Ang sabi ko, we can do this, we can have the votation now, but I tell you now we cannot pass any of the bills that are pending. Sabi niya (Enrile) 'if that is the case binabanatan na tayo ng iba't ibang tao sa media na nagiging circus na tayo, maybe let's not have a full week of circus in the Senate.' Maybe we can reserve the fighting next week; at least one of three days, nagtrabaho tayo," Zubiri said. He also denied that the majority bloc was just buying time to gather more supporters for the committee report, saying most of the senators have already made up their mind on the issue. But the minority bloc frowned on the Senate leadership’s “ceasefire" move. "We are ready for interpellation, we are ready for debate, we are ready for the vote since yesterday... sila ang nagmamadali bakit ayaw nilang itackle, they have the control of the agenda," Senator Joker Arroyo told reporters. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago believe that the majority bloc do not have the numbers to adopt the committee report. Santiago insisted that 16 senators are needed to approve the report and implement it. At least 12 senators signed the report against Villar. (See: Senate panel to Villar on C-5: Return P6.22-B fund to govt) Zubiri assured his colleagues that the Senate will tackle the committee report and the resolution next week, but insisted that he needs to push for the pending bills for fear that the senators would no longer attend the session. "There is no ploy to delay, believe me, if there is anything I want to do is to finish it already," Zubiri said. Told that it was the majority bloc who put the committee report on top of its agenda, the senator said: "Things change everyday, you'll never know what will happen. It is always a new day in the Senate and always an exciting day in the Senate." —Amita O. Legaspi/JV, GMANews.TV