The race for the Senate presidency between Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is not yet over, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said Monday.

While acknowledging that Escudero currently has the numbers to keep the Senate presidency, Zubiri said nothing is final until the 20th Congress convenes on 28 July.

“Anything can still happen. There are two weeks to go. We’re not saying that it’s a done deal,” he told reporters at the Kapihan sa Senado news forum.

Zubiri earlier said he had formed a new bloc with himself, Sotto, and Senators Ping Lacson and Loren Legarda, who were all members of the so-called seatmates bloc.

Their new bloc – “the veterans bloc” – is open to supporting a new candidate who will challenge Escudero’s bid to retain the leadership of the upper chamber.

“We are not surrendering at this point. What is important to us is to protect the integrity of the Senate. To the eyes of the public, the Senate is already beaten up. Never say die,” he said.

“We are open to another third force. Maybe there’s a dark horse out there who wants to step up. Why not? We talked about it in our group. If there’s a dark horse who comes forward and it’s necessary from among the four of us – we are willing to support it. As long as he or she will promise transparency and integrity in the Senate,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri earlier threw his support behind Sotto’s bid to reclaim the Senate top post after admitting his dissatisfaction with the leadership of Escudero, who had ousted him last year.

In a previous interview, he had said, “If you ask me, I’m for a leader of the Senate who protects the integrity, the traditions of the Senate. I don’t want a leader in the Senate who is the dictatorial type. I don’t want us to be like other chambers where it is only one emperor who dictates all the instructions to the members of the body.”

“If you ask me if I am satisfied with the leadership of the Senate—I’m not satisfied with it, so I am open to supporting other candidates for the Senate presidency,” he said.

Hontiveros welcome to join

Zubiri said Senator Risa Hontiveros would be “most welcome” to join the Senate minority bloc should Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Bam Aquino decide to join the majority.

“I actually feel sorry for Senator Risa. You know she was really campaigning hard for her candidates. Then she said she would form her group, an independent bloc, but now she’s all alone. So I heard that she’s now by herself 9 (but) I cannot confirm or deny this,” Zubiri said.

Hontiveros campaigned for the comeback bid of Pangilinan and Aquino to the Senate after their defeat in the 2022 national elections. To recall, Pangilinan ran for vice president while Aquino served as campaign manager for former Vice President Leni Robredo, who ran for president in 2022.

Zubiri said Hontiveros is welcome to join the minority bloc despite their differences on many issues.

“Of course! She’s most welcome to join. But we have more divergent positions on issues because she is more on the left side world, and we’re on the conservative. Many of you know I’m a conservative politician,” he said.

“But, you know, when it comes to transparency, we’re all in this together, right? When it comes to abuse of authority, we should all stand together as well. We welcome her to join us. We’ll adopt her even if she doesn’t want to be adopted,” he added.

Before this, Sotto expressed an intent to be the Senate Minority Leader should he fail to take the Senate leadership away from Escudero.

“I am fully prepared, in case I am not elected by our colleagues. I am also ready to be elected as the minority leader,” he said in a previous interview.