Hedging their bets: Villars split impeach votes

The 14 votes that matter

The Senate has 24 seats.

For Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, the number everyone is watching is 14.

That is the current threshold for conviction after the Senate impeachment court ruled that only the senators legally and factually capable of participating in the trial should count toward the two-thirds requirement.

Then Mark Villar made his move.

The senator abandoned the minority and crossed over to the administration-aligned majority, bringing the bloc numbers to 14 and 10. He was also elected to the chamber’s Commission on Appointments and named chair of Public Works.

Now Raffy Tulfo says another minority senator may cross over. No name. If that happens, the arithmetic becomes 15 to 9.

That would not, in itself, change the 14-vote impeachment threshold. But it would change the political landscape surrounding those 14 votes.

Four senators are currently unable to participate in the trial.

The Senate is therefore watching two numbers at once.

Fourteen — the number of votes needed.

And nine — the number that could soon be left on the other side of the chamber. — Jason Mago

Basic courtesy

Israeli Ambassador Dana Kursh paid a courtesy call on Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo this week, and the “woke” brigade, some of them friends of mine, treated a handshake like a surrender.

It was part of a visit to Bicol covering agriculture, food security, and disaster preparedness. Not exactly an arms deal.

Robredo is a mayor. Kursh is an accredited ambassador. Hosting a diplomat doesn’t mean endorsing every act of her government. Criticize the policy all you like. Condemn Gaza all you like. Just don’t mistake basic decency for betrayal. That’s diplomacy. That’s “social harmony.”

Diplomacy exists because people, governments, and enemies disagree. Washington, London and Moscow loathed each other’s politics and still crushed Nazi Germany together. Kennedy and Khrushchev kept talking because the alternative was ashes.

If your rule is “we don’t talk to terrorists,” congratulations: you’ve abolished diplomacy. Ceasefires, prisoner swaps and peace deals all need someone willing to sit across the table.

Refusing to listen isn’t conviction. It’s a tantrum with a cause.

A courtesy call is not complicity. Learn the difference. — Carl Magadia

Big brother duties

Mark Villar has switched sides.

From the Senate minority, he has crossed over to the administration-aligned majority, winning for himself two significant positions: chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Works and Highways and membership in the Commission on Appointments.

Zubiri moved for Villar to replace him in the Commission on Appointments, while Senate President Vicente Sotto III gave way as public works committee chairperson. Both motions were approved.

Raffy floated the possibility of more minority senators joining the majority. When?

He says time will tell.

Amid the political musical chairs, one question is getting louder: Will Sara Duterte be impeached?

The political boat has been rocked repeatedly, and with senators jumping from one side to the other, the balance continues to shift.

Perhaps Mark has discovered something compelling about the majority’s legislative agenda.

Perhaps he believes he can accomplish more from the other side.

That is entirely possible.

Camille remains identified with the minority, while Mark has now positioned himself with the majority.

Different blocs. Same name.

One could argue that this is simply how individual senators exercise their independence. After all, siblings need not share a political conviction.

But one could also ask whether such an arrangement conveniently keeps the family’s political options open, regardless of which bloc gains the upper hand.

And that brings us to Mark.

Could he be the family’s political shock absorber?

The big brother willing to take the heat, be called a “balimbing” (turncoat), absorb the political backlash rather than let his younger sister, Camille, bear the burden?

Perhaps that is his big brother duty: Take the hit, protect his sister, and keep the family name afloat.

Or perhaps I am giving this move too much meaning. After all, Mark would still have his Senate seat even if he had stayed in the minority.

Just like their developments, the Villars understand the importance of being in the right place at the right time.

Only this time, the prime location is not a subdivision, a mall, or a highway.

It is a seat closer to power.

— Vivienne Angeles