Zubiri's staff members assured of jobs

Members of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri's staff won't have to worry about finding new jobs because the lawmaker who resigned on Wednesday has already made arrangements for them. "We have plans to make sure that no one will be displaced, that they all will have work in or out of the Senate," Zubiri's chief of staff Alexis Valdivia told GMA News Online on Thursday. He said that some of the staff members will be transferred to other Senate offices while some will be hired by Zubiri in his private office. "As of the now there is still a period for [the] staff to complete their clearances," said Valdivia. Zubiri's chief of staff said the senator talked to his staff about his resignation right after consulting his father, Bukidnon Vice Governor Jose Zubiri. "We had dinner with the staff the evening before his [Zubiri] speech and had Mass," he said. Asked how they will remember the former senator, Valdivia said they will always see him as "a man of passion, heart, sincerity, and honor." As of posting time, the staff members of Zubiri were still working in the former lawmaker's office. Valdivia said they will be packing and moving Zubiri's things for him starting Thursday. Zubiri, whose 2007 victory is being contested before the Senate Electoral Tribunal, resigned from his post on Wednesday afternoon. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News