Sen. Mark Villar has officially joined the Senate majority bloc, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri confirmed, bringing the bloc’s membership to 14.
Villar’s move was first reported as expected before the formal announcement. He was previously identified with the Senate minority bloc.
His sister, Sen. Camille Villar, will remain with the minority bloc, according to the report.
Following his transfer, Villar was elected to two positions previously held by members of the majority.
He was chosen as chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works, replacing Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente Sotto III.
Villar was also elected to the Commission on Appointments, taking the position previously held by Zubiri after the majority leader gave way.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano was elected as a member of the Commission on Appointments, replacing Sen. Loren Legarda.
Cayetano said the move was intended to ensure that the minority bloc could continue performing its duties in the Commission on Appointments, particularly because three of its members were unable to attend due to legal and political constraints.
Villar’s transfer comes after he became the only senator from the minority bloc to vote in favor of lowering the fixed 16-vote threshold for conviction in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Sept. 23.
In that vote, 13 senators supported the move, while Presiding Officer Francis Escudero was the only senator who voted against it. Six members of the minority bloc did not participate in the vote.
Villar was among the 13 senators who voted to adopt the new threshold. The other 12 votes came from senators identified with the majority bloc.
The Senate’s current majority and minority alignments have shifted during the 20th Congress, with Villar’s move further changing the composition of the two blocs.
