Marcos sees Senate stability under new leadership

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed confidence that the Senate would regain stability and resume work on key legislative measures following the election of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate president.

Speaking to reporters before departing for Manila, Marcos said he hopes the change in leadership would allow the Senate to focus on its primary responsibility of passing important legislation, particularly measures identified as priorities by his administration.

“Well, that is exactly what we have been all hoping for – that things become more orderly, na maging maayos ang takbo ng Senado. Alam ng lahat ng tao kung ano yung nangyari (that things become more orderly, that the Senate runs smoothly. Everyone knows what happened),” Marcos said.

The President reiterated his respect for the Senate’s independence in choosing its leaders.

“I will support whoever the Senate chooses, as long as the process that they undertook in making a choice is proper, is legal, is constitutional, then that’s fine with me,” he said.

Gatchalian assumed the Senate presidency during a special session on Wednesday, ending a two-week impasse in the chamber after Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano declined to relinquish the post and recognize a leadership reorganization.

Marcos said the prolonged leadership dispute had disrupted Senate operations, delaying discussions on pending bills and affecting action on important government appointments.

He stressed that a functioning legislature is essential, particularly as the government responds to emerging challenges, including economic pressures stemming from developments in the Middle East.

“Sana naman sa paglagay ni Senator Sherwin bilang SP, mabalik naman tayo sa normal na patakbo ng Senado (Hopefully, with Senator Sherwin becoming Senate president, we can return to the normal operations of the Senate) and that they can take care of the business of government, the business of legislation, and all these necessary legislation(s) that we listed to show that (these) are priority – some of them are from before, some of them are new in response to the oil crisis in the Middle East,” he said.

The Chief Executive also pledged to work closely with lawmakers to ensure the swift passage of priority measures.

“I will definitely do whatever we can to work together with the legislature, with the Senate in particular, to make sure that things go smoothly and we move away from the chaos that we have been seeing in the Senate. I hope that the new reorganization will achieve that,” Marcos said.