Senator Franklin Drilon was elected Senate President on Monday replacing Juan Ponce Enrile, who resigned before the 15th Congress adjourned.
Drilon, nominated by Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Grace Poe-Llamanzares, received 17 votes in nominal voting against six votes that Enrile received. Drilon cast his vote for Enrile, who was nominetd by Senators Nancy Binay and JV Ejercito Estrada. Enrile, for his part, took the floor to say he was casting his vote for Drilon.
Drilon, speaking after taking his oath, noted the Senate is, for the first time, made up of women and of the young. Half of the elected senators are below 50 years old and a quarter are female, Drilon said.
He said this means the concerns of women and the young generation will be articulated in the upper house well.
“We must be a Senate that feels the pulse of the people,” Drilon said as he challenged his colleagues, whom he is leading for the fourth time as president, to be more than just a debating club.
Senator Ralph Recto, who, like Drilon, is a member of the ruling Liberal Party, was elected Senate President Pro Tempore.
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Photo: Senate PRIB
