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Minority senators
whittled down to 4
THE minority bloc in the Senate
would continue to fiscalize even
if the number of minority sen-
aton would be whittled down
from six to four, Senate Minori-
ty Leader Franklin Drilon said
on Tuesday.
Partial unofficial results ofthe
Senate race showed that Sen.
Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino
4th will not get reelected.
"The people have spoken. I
respect it. For the opposition
there may be less in numbers
now but we will continue to
fiscalize in the Senate," Drilon
said in a text message.
Fellow opposition Sen. Anto-
nio Trillanes 4th is set to end
his second six-year term in June.
Sen. Leila de Lima, detained
at the Philippine N atio nal
Police Custodial Center on
drug charges, cannot actively
participate in the deliberation
of measures, including the na-
tional budget.
The two other oppositio n
senators are Francis "Kiko" Pan-
gilinan and Ana Theresia "Risa"
Hontiveros.
"The Senate is the people's
last line of defense within gov-
ernment against continuing
attempts to undermine our de-
mocracy and attack our human
rights. Whatever the outcome of
the elections, we are prepared
to fight the long game," Hon-
tiveros said.
Drilon, Pangilinan and de
Lima,belong to the ofposition
Liberal Party, while Hontiveros
t WEDNESDAY May 15,2019
repiesents Akbayan party-1ist.
. Senate bets endorsed by Pres-
ident Rodrigo Duterte were
poised for victoty based on
unofficial vote results, signaling
firm approval of his rule and
clearing a path for his most
controversial plans.
With 94 percent of ballots
counted early Tuesday, Dutene
allies were on track to take nine
of 12 Senate seats.
Historically, the. nation's 24
senators who sewe six-year
terms
-have had a reputa-
-
tion for belng more indepen-
dentminded than members of
qhe fuqse of Representatives.
Duterte has pledged to bring
back the death penalty and low-
er the age of criminal responsi-
bility from 15 to 12.
He also promised to rewrite
the nation's constit[tion to
create a federal republic, where
regions would be given more
power to tackle the nation's
deep-rooted poverty.
However, opponents see
those plans as an effort to
extend his hold on power or
weaken the nation's democratic
institutions..
"This election just gave Dute-
rte carte blanche to push his
brand of governance to its
logical conclusion: Complete
transformation of the nation's
political system," analyst Rich-
ard Heydarian told the Agence
Ftance-Presse.
BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO
AND AFP
?aae2)