Ejercito nominates ‘seatmate’ Zubiri for Senate President: We need strong, humble leadership
July 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Monday nominated his former Senate seatmate Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri for Senate President.
During the opening of the first regular session of the 19th Congress, Ejercito described Zubiri as a “strong, kind, cooperative, humble, and gallant” leader who can defend the Senate’s legacy as a bastion of democracy.
“Senator Migz possesses the kind of leadership that we need. Strong but not tyrannical; kind but not naive; cooperative but not subservient; humble but vigilant and gallant,” he said in his nomination speech.
Ejercito said the Senate needs a “man of character” and “honorable man” who can lead the Senate amidst the different challenges confronting the country at present, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices, violent political divisions, and global uncertainties.
He cited Zubiri’s track record as the youngest elected Majority Floor Leader of the Senate and his role in pushing for pro-people legislation throughout his twenty years in public service.
“This demonstrates not just Senator Migz’s knowledge of the Senate history and its Rules, but his strong leadership, his charisma, and his self-assured temperament that is so critical in leading an institution like the Senate,” he said.
The lawmaker from San Juan City also lauded Zubiri as a “loyal friend and ally” and “family man.”
“He is a loyal friend and ally, a pillar of the ‘Seatmate’ bloc of the Senate who is always ready and willing to impart his knowledge and support to his colleagues. He is a family man – a loving husband and protective father to his children. I know that there is no better person for the job than Senator Migz,” he said.
Ejercito and Zubiri are two of the original members of the ‘Seatmate’ bloc, a group of lawmakers that emerged from their seating arrangement inside the Senate’s Session Hall and eventually became a friendly legislative coalition in the Upper Chamber.
Both Senators have credited each other for expediting the passage of landmark legislation in the 17th Congress, such as the Universal Healthcare Law and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.
“As the principal sponsor of the Universal Healthcare Law and the creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, while he was Majority Floor Leader, he was the one pushing me (at) lagi niyang sinasabi sa’kin, ‘JV, tara na, i-calendar na natin ‘yan para maipasa na natin. Those are two landmark legislation.’ He really pushed me,” Ejercito said.
“Thank you, bro, for really pushing me and being able to pass these two landmark legislation. It is because of you. You really made sure that these laws will be taken up on the floor,” he added.
