Zubiri is out; Escudero is new Senate president

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri stepped down as Senate president on Monday, May 20.

“Of course, heartbroken. Alam mo naman hindi naman siguro tayo kalaban ng (You know we’re not enemy of) the powers that be. Pero dahil not following instructions kaya nadale tayo (But because we’re not following instructions, we were targeted),” Zubiri told reporters.

Senator Chiz Escudero was elected the new Senate president, replacing Zubiri who led the upper chamber for almost two years. 

It was Senator Alan Peter Cayetano who nominated Escudero. No other nominations were made, enabling the senators to name him as the new Senate leader.

The change in Senate leadership came before Congress’ sine die adjournment or when the session goes on a two-month break. Congress will commence its third regular session on July 22 when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address.

The shift also happened as the Senate was probing alleged leaks in the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) concerning the supposed involvement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in illegal drugs. Zubiri said that the Marcos camp was angry at him for allowing the probe to happen. After four hearings, Senator Bato dela Rosa has failed to establish the alleged Marcos drug links, with his colleagues, including Escudero, saying the allegation was only based on hearsay.

Zubiri warned Dela Rosa to stop using Senate hearings for political persecution. Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that it was former president Rodrigo Duterte who instructed Dela Rosa to conduct hearings on the alleged PDEA leaks.

In July 2022, Zubiri was elected Senate president unopposed. He got the unanimous nod of 19 of his colleagues.

Escudero’s rise to the leadership was reportedly sealed when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) forged an alliance with Escudero’s political party Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) a year before the 2025 elections.

In 2016, Escudero ran for vice president of Senator Grace Poe. He previously served as spokesman of the late action star Fernando Poe Jr (FPJ) when he ran for president in 2004, one of the reasons why FPJ’s daughter stood by Escudero despite talk at the time that he was a liability. Escudero lost to Vice President Leni Robredo.

In 2019, he went back to his home province of Sorsogon and became governor after finishing his second consecutive term as senator. He first entered politics at the age of 28 and ran and won as Sorsogon 1st District Representative in 1998. He made a comeback in the Senate in 2022 after securing over 20.2 million votes, placing him at fifth spot. – Rappler.com