Metro Manila, Philippines – Senator Mark Villar has officially joined the majority bloc, Majority Leader Migz Zubiri confirmed Thursday, Oct. 8.
“Yes, we just elected him to the CA and public works committee as part of the majority,” Zubiri said, referring to the Commission on Appointments.
Villar’s move formalizes his exit from the minority bloc led by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, following months of division over the Senate leadership and the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The senator previously broke ranks with the minority during the Sept. 23 impeachment court proceedings, voting in favor of a revised formula for determining the number of votes needed to convict Duterte.
Villar’s office has yet to issue a statement on the shifting alliance. The senator’s sister, Camille, is still with the minority bloc.
The Senate impeachment court voted 13-1 to adopt a computation based on the number of senator-judges legally and physically capable of participating in the trial. The Supreme Court has upheld the voting rule in a constitutional challenge.
The ruling could lower the conviction threshold from 16 to 14 votes under the current regular attendance of 20 senators, or depending on the number of senators eligible to participate.
Villar was the only member of the minority bloc who supported the voting rule. Six others, including Cayetano, did not participate in the vote.
Cayetano said at the time that Villar remained part of the minority despite his position on the impeachment ruling.
The transfer also comes months after the Senate leadership dispute involving Cayetano and Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.
Gatchalian assumed the Senate presidency on June 17 in a reorganization that Cayetano initially challenged.
