MANILA, Philippines (March15)–President Rodrigo R. Duterte dined with the senators Tuesday night, March 14, 2017.
Six members of the Liberal Party are not included.
Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito in his Instagram account posted a photo captioned: “Intimate dinner with the President and my colleagues.”
The dinner took placed a day after Duterte held a press conference with Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
As shown in the photo with Ejercito were Pimentel, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Manny Pacquiao, Richard Gordon, Joel Villanueva, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sonny Angara and Sherwin Gatchalian.
Also present were Lady Senators Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay, Cynthia Villar and Grace Poe.
The fifteen belong to the majority bloc of the Senate.
Absent in were Senators Panfilo Lacson, Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Gringo Honasan.
As expected the Senate opposition group led by Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima were not invited.
De Lima has been detained at Camp Crame since February 24 over drug charges.
