Ain’t over till it’s over FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/06/2010

Ain’t over till it’s over

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/06/2010 It may not look like it right now, but Johnny Ponce-Enrile may just have the best of chances to retain the post of Senate president, that is, if the presidency is handed to him on a virtual silver platter, rather than his campaigning for it. While it may look as though it is Kiko Pangilinan who has more or less wrapped up the votes to make him Senate president, it may not be all that it seems. The equation is simple enough: There are supposedly at least four blocs within the Senate that have pledged to vote as blocs. Enrile has said that four of them will be voting as a bloc, the bloc being composed of Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Greg Honasan and Tito Sotto, or so it was said. Ed Angara also has a bloc of five to seven, or so it is being claimed. The Angara bloc members are: Angara, Migz Zubiri, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla and Loren Legarda. The Villar bloc is said to be composed largely of his Nacionalista partymates, who are the Cayetanos, Pia and Alan Peter, Villar, Bong Bong Marcos, Miriam Santiago and Joker Arroyo, making six in the bloc. The Liberal Party with Kiko Pangilinan heading the bloc, has five sure votes: Pangilinan, Frank Drilon, Serge Osmeña, Ralph Recto and TG Guingona, with an additional vote from detained Sen. Sonny Trillanes, if he will be allowed to attend the opening of Congress and cast his vote for Pangilinan. If Trillanes does get that furlough from both the court and the military, you can be sure that the new Malacañang tenant will have dipped his presidential finger in both the judiciary and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to get Trillanes to appear in the Senate and give his vote.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100706com2.html

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