(Photo by PNA)
MANILA – Senator Mark Villar formally joined the Senate majority on Thursday, increasing the bloc to 14 members as he assumed the chairmanship of the Committee on Public Works and secured a seat in the Commission on Appointments.
The realignment was formalized during the plenary session after Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri moved to elect Villar as chair of the Public Works panel.
“On the part of the majority… I move to elect Senator Mark Villar as chairperson of the Committee on Public Works,” Zubiri said.
The motion was approved without objection.
The committee handles measures involving roads, bridges, flood control systems, public buildings and other government infrastructure projects.
Villar previously served as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways before being elected to the Senate.
He also replaced Zubiri as a member of the Commission on Appointments, the constitutional body that reviews key presidential appointments.
“I’m giving way to Senator Villar,” Zubiri said before moving for Villar’s election to the commission.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian declared Villar elected after no senator objected.
Villar’s transfer increased the Senate majority to 14 members, from the 13-member bloc that elected Gatchalian as Senate President during the June 17 special session.
Villar had earlier voted with the majority during the Sept. 23 impeachment proceedings involving Vice President Sara Duterte, when he joined 12 majority senators in overturning the fixed 16-vote threshold for deciding the case. He was still identified as part of the minority at the time.
The Senate also elected Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano to the Commission on Appointments, replacing Senator Loren Legarda.
Zubiri moved for Cayetano’s election, which was also approved without objection.
