{"id":5972,"date":"2024-05-20T21:54:33","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T13:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/?p=5972"},"modified":"2024-05-20T22:08:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T14:08:42","slug":"zubiri-steps-down-escudero-is-new-senate-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/2024\/05\/20\/zubiri-steps-down-escudero-is-new-senate-president\/","title":{"rendered":"ZUBIRI STEPS DOWN; ESCUDERO IS NEW SENATE PRESIDENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday (May 20, 2024) stepped down as Senate President, ending his <\/strong>two-year term.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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His resignation came days before the end of the second regular session of the 19th Congress.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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He was replaced by Senator Chiz Escudero, who took his oath as the new Senate President following a nomination from Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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With no objection, Escudero was officially elected by the 24-person Chamber as the new Senate head.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI failed to follow instructions from the powers that be,\u201d an emotional Zubiri said in his <\/strong>valedictory address during the Senate\u2019s plenary session.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The outgoing Senate President said he had “fought the good fight.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

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“If I’ve ruffled some feathers in doing so, then so be it,” the Bukidnon lawmaker said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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According to Zubiri, he did his best to shield the Senate from all attacks to keep the Upper Chamber independent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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“God knows what I had to do to defend the Senate,” the outgoing Senate President said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cAs I have said, I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues, and I thank them for entrusting me with the monumental responsibility of leading the Senate over the past two years. It has been the greatest honor of my life as a public servant, and the greatest challenge,\u201d the \u201cheartbroken\u201d Zubiri said in a privilege speech.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI have given this job my all. Not only have I maintained my untarnished record as a public servant and my streak of perfect attendance since 1998, but I have also done my best to rise to the occasion as a leader responsible for this entire institution, and everyone under its care,\u201d he further said. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI leave with my head held high, knowing I did what is right for the Senate and for the nation. I wish our new leadership the very best, and I pray that they will be steadfast in upholding the independence of our beloved institution,\u201d the outgoing Senate chief added.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Rumors of Senate \u201ccoup\u201d had been recurring since last year due to alleged “discontentment” on the way Zubiri was leading the Upper Chamber.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This was worsened by the tension brought by the People\u2019s Initiative, with the House of Representatives criticizing the Senate’s hardline stance against changing the Charter. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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His stepping down also occurred as the Senate was investigating the alleged leaks in the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Bukidnon solon said he respects the independence of the Senate panel, allowing the conduct of the investigation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Zubiri said he will serve the Filipino people as an independent member of the Senate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Escudero vowed to serve the interests of Filipinos, regardless of affiliations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday (May 20, 2024) stepped down as Senate President, ending his two-year term. His resignation came days before the end<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5976,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions\/5976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}