THE 15^th Congress opened today electing Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino as senate president  and  Quezon City (4^th district)  Rep. Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of the Liberal Party  as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Enrile, dubbed as  “unity” senate president,  obtained  17 out of 20 votes of senators belonging to Liberal and Nacionalista Parties, including Sen. Manuel Villar, who ran for president  in the last May elections and was  investigated by the 14^th Senate under Enrile for alleged overpricing on the C-5 road extension project.

Enrile defeated Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of the NP who automatically becomes the Senate minority leader. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada  was voted Senate President pro tempore . Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III was majority floor leader and chairman of the Senate committee on rules.

Belmonte  got 227 votes over  Albay Rep. Edzel  Lagman  (Lakas-Lampi-CMD) who got only 29 votes. Lagman  will share the position of  House minority leader with Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez.

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