Zubiri named deputy minority leader

The new composition of the Senate is taking shape, with Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri named as one of the deputy minority leaders.

“Yes, I will be one of the deputy minority leaders, and Senator Risa [Hontiveros] will be the other,” Zubiri told reporters in a chance interview on Tuesday.

According to him, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero agreed to appoint an additional deputy minority leader to reflect the expanded composition of the Senate minority bloc.

“Yes, we just added. Senate President agreed we’ll add an additional deputy minority leader. Because in the 19th Congress, there were only two of them — Senator Koko [Pimentel] and Senator Risa — so there was only one deputy minority leader,” he said.

“Now that there’s more of us — we doubled in size, almost 250 percent, and we are now five — we requested for an additional minority leader. The Senate President agreed to amend the rules to allow that,” he added.

Zubiri is now part of the minority bloc after supporting the Senate presidency bid of Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III against Escudero on Monday, upon the opening of the first regular session of the 20th Congress.

Escudero retained his post as Senate President after getting 19 votes against Sotto, who only received five votes from their colleagues.

Sotto was named the Senate Minority Leader by default, with Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Loren Legarda, Hontiveros, and Zubiri as his members.