BBM hosts dinner for Chiz, other senators after shakeup

President Marcos met with newly elected Senate President Francis Escudero and other senators over dinner on Tuesday, a day after a shakeup in the Senate leadership.

- HELEN FLORES

Escudero replaced Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who stepped down on Monday due to his "failure to follow instructions from the powers that be." First Lady Liza Marcos posted a photo of their dinner on her Instagram account yesterday. "Had a nice time breaking bread with the senators and their spouses," she declared.

Escudero maintained that the dinner had nothing to do with Zubiri's ouster, noting that Tuesday's social dinner was the third time the Palace had hosted such a gathering.

"The Palace made the invitation three weeks ago and had nothing to do with the Senate change of leadership. In fact, I was not able to join in the first two dinners. But since the invitation was for the senators, as the new Senate President, I have to attend," Escudero told Senate reporters.

While the dinner was supposed to be purely social, Escudero said Sen. Cynthia Villar managed to discuss with Marcos the amendment of the Rice Tariffication Law.

Escudero said even the President indicated that he did not know about the Senate leadership change and he only found out about it after arriving from a trip to Dumaguete.