Senator Mark Villar joins Senate majority, takes public works chair

ASM, Philippine Canadian Inquirer October 09, 2026

Photo Courtesy: Multiple Sources

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Mark Villar has moved from the Senate minority to the majority bloc, bringing the dominant group’s membership to 14 senators as the chamber continues its legislative work and the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Villar’s shift became official during the Senate’s Oct. 8 plenary session, when Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri moved for his election as chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works and as a member of the Commission on Appointments. Both motions were approved without objection.

He replaced Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as public works committee chair and took Zubiri’s seat in the Commission on Appointments.

The leadership changes left the majority with 14 members and the minority with 10.  Zubiri said Villar had asked to return to the majority because he wanted committee assignments that would allow him to take a more active role in Senate work. He noted that Villar had previously belonged to the majority before joining the bloc led by Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.

The move comes as the Senate sits as an impeachment court in Duterte’s ongoing trial, where the number of votes required for conviction remains a contested issue.

The impeachment court earlier ruled that the constitutional two-thirds requirement should be based on senators who are present and actively participating, lowering the current threshold from the traditionally cited 16 votes to 14. Senators Bong Go and Robin Padilla, along with other petitioners, have asked the Supreme Court to restore the 16-vote requirement.

Zubiri rejected suggestions that Villar’s transfer was connected to the impeachment proceedings, saying membership in either Senate bloc does not determine how a senator will vote.

He said any eventual decision should depend on the evidence presented during the trial. Cayetano, meanwhile, said he respected Villar’s decision and acknowledged that Senate alliances can change. He said the remaining minority senators would continue their role as fiscalizers and constructive opposition members despite the change in their numbers.

Villar’s return to the majority also gives him control of the public works committee, which handles legislation involving roads, bridges, flood control, public buildings and other major infrastructure concerns.