Manny Villar out, Juan Ponce Enrile in

Last Monday, Senator Manny Villar was ousted as Senate President by a vote of 14-0 and was replaced by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

The "surprise Senate coup" came to me as a surprise as I was not able to watch TV and read news articles online. I only knew about it yesterday.

The following Senators voted to oust Villar. The ones with an asterisk sign (*) indicate that they voted for Villar as Senate President last July 2007, otherwise they voted for Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.:

1. Loren Legarda
2. Ping Lacson
3. Jamby Madrigal
4. Mar Roxas
5. Rodolfo Biazon
6. Chiz Escudero*
7. Jinggoy Estrada*
8. Bong Revilla*
9. Edgardo Angara*
10. Richard Gordon*
11. Migz Zubiri*
12. Lito Lapid*
13. Gregorio Honasan*
14. Juan Ponce Enrile*

Senators Joker Arroyo*, Benigno Aquino III, Alan Peter Cayetano*, Pia Cayetano*, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan* and Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.* abstained from voting.

Let's face it, Senator Mar Roxas voted to oust Villar from the Senate Presidency. It was already expected that he would do it because last July 2007, he voted for Pimentel, Jr. and not for Villar as Senate President.

Villar also has some problems to face like the C-5 Road Project Scandal which he should explain. He should go under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee and deliberate whether he has committed wrongdoings or Lacson is just politicking.

If the clamor to oust Villar from the Senate Presidency was only defended by Roxas, it might not have been successful. It takes 13 votes to unseat a Senate President. It just shows that majority in the Senate wanted a change of leadership.

I am also expecting that Roxas would keep his Chairmanship in the Senate Committe on Trade and Commerce. His performance has been very good and I see no reason why he should be removed from the position.