What does it mean for the impeachment trial, now that more than a majority of senators are reportedly supporting Senate President Chiz Escudero in the 20th Senate?
As many as 16 senators have already signed a resolution expressing support for Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero to remain as Senate president in the 20th Congress, Senator JV Ejercito said Tuesday [July 8]. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/
It would seem that the 16 include the DDS senators.
Wednesday, [Senator Bato] Dela Rosa announced that the Duterte bloc, now known as Duter7, has pledged its support for Senate President Francis Escudero, who has been widely criticized for delaying the impeachment trial.
While he expressed uncertainty about the commitment of fellow Duter7 member Sen. Imee Marcos, Dela Rosa stated that the bloc is generally inclined to support Escudero’s continuation as Senate president.
Duter7 comprises Senators Dela Rosa, Marcos, Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, Robinhood Padilla, Camille Villar and Mark Villar. https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/07/10/
Samantala, Senator Tito Sotto‘s bid for the senate presidency is down to three supporters.
Senator Migz Zubiri said on Monday, July 7, [that he] is supporting Sotto’s bid, though he admitted they currently lack the numbers. He said the so-called “Veterans Bloc”— composed of himself, Sotto, and senators Loren Legarda and Ping Lacson — is also backing Sotto. https://www.rappler.com/
16 for Chiz and 4 for Sotto makes 20. Which leaves Senators Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, and Kiko Pangilinan.
Senators Bam Aquino and Francis Pangilinan are likely to join the Senate majority in the 20th Congress, with expectations that they will chair the committees on education and on agriculture, respectively, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said yesterday. https://www.philstar.com/
Senator Migz Zubiri said on Monday, July 7, that opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros would be “most welcome” to join the Senate minority bloc of the 20th Congress if her allies, Senators Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan, ultimately decide to join the majority. https://www.rappler.com/
Sa tingin nila, nag-iisa na si Senator Risa.
MIGZ. I really feel sorry for Senator Risa. You know, she was always campaigning for her candidates. Then she said she would form her own independent bloc, but now she’s all alone. That’s what I heard, she’s now all alone. I cannot confirm or deny this. https://www.rappler.com/
So far neither Bam nor Kiko has confirmed or denied any of it, which tends to give credence to reports na pinagiisipan pa nila. Of course, the pinklawan Akbayan punditz are very upset. Is this any way to treat the lady, abandoning her, after she had campaigned for them, begged voters to vote for them, para may kasama, kakampi, siya sa senado?
Hmmm. I’m not sure the surprise spectacular showing of Bam and Kiko — #2 and #5 — was thanks mainly to Risa’s Akbayan pull. There was the INC, too, for Bam, and the Liberal Party for KiBam, and let’s not forget the Kiko-Shawie show-up at a Palace event celebrating Philippine cinema. I mean, you know, huwag naman angkinin sina Bam at Kiko.
Besides, I’m not (yet) convinced that a supermajority for Chiz as SP means a supermajority for dismissal of the impeachment complaint. I wouldn’t put it past Chiz to dangle committee chairmanships in exchange for the SP post but without compromising the impeachment.
Dela Rosa, who failed to get the impeachment case dismissed during the 19th Congress, said he plans to bring up the question of jurisdiction in the plenary after the 20th Congress opens on July 28. https://www.manilatimes.net/
I imagine that Chiz will allow Bato to try again, and that, after some debate, the question will be decided by a majority vote based, I pray, not on fears of this or that consequence but, purely on the Senate’s constitutional mandate to hold certain very powerful public officials to the highest standards of accountability and integrity.
And yes, kahit matuloy ang trial, senators could block the opening of the Dutertes’ bank accounts, kung meron nga, but that’s par for the course. Whichever way it goes, much will be revealed, and we will all be the better (informed) for it.
As for Senator Risa, in her place I wouldn’t mind being the lone wolf, not if | when I have friends in the majority.
MARLEN RONQUILLO: “Hontiveros does not go gentle into that good night”
She is up against a compromised polity, but she is persistent. The mere fact that Roque is calling for her expulsion from the Senate and the lawyer of Arnulfo Tevez is calling her a “prima donna” is proof that she is unsettling the cozy sanctums of power and privilege. Filipinos tired of Roque’s antics loved how she described Roque: “pugante” (fugitive).
https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/07/13/opinion/columns/hontiveros-does-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night/2148232
VINCENT R. POZON: “Hontiveros, Aquino, Pangilinan — Mismatched Branches: Did Anybody Actually Think It Would Work?”
From where I stand, as a progressive — and I can’t pretend to speak for all who share my politics — this arrangement struck me as more hopeful than feasible. Or rather, more advertising than authentic. Watching seasoned politicians clasp hands with a lifelong activist may have offered the comforting illusion of fusion. To imagine that such disparate stocks could be grafted into a single, thriving trunk was a notion perhaps only the politically naïve could indulge — and that is writ without malice.
… The men know a different world, and their hearts remain there. Pangilinan knows the comforts and mechanisms of family enterprises and politics; Aquino carries the legacy of a great political clan whose history is intertwined with the state. On the other side of the moon is Hontiveros, who rallied and railed against governments all her life, hauled into police cars for causes long before it was fashionable to don pink or yellow.
… When Bayan Muna stood beside Manny Villar on the campaign stage, Akbayan beside Noynoy Aquino, Makabayan with Duterte, they understood the “bolting in” to be transactional — something that could work until agendas diverged. They were presented to the public as simply members of a slate.
The packaging of Aquino, Pangilinan, and Hontiveros in the last election was sold to the young as something more profound: yellow and pink and progressive, joined at the hip by ideology.
Now the selling is done — and successful. The grafting failed. The plant refused to take.
Should we be surprised?
I question why they thought it even possible.
In the end, it was not the grafting that failed, but the gardener’s judgment. And if there is someone who ought to feel betrayed, it is the voter — especially the young voters who thrilled at the vision they promised, now left nursing a lesson harsher than disillusionment.
https://www.ourbrew.ph/hontiveros-aquino-pangilinan-mismatched-branches-did-anybody-actually-think-it-would-work/