Risa to remain with Senate minority bloc in 20th Congress

Senator Risa Hontiveros announces that she will be joining the minority bloc in the 20th Congress: “Hindi na mabubuo ang independent bloc.” @gmanews pic.twitter.com/iKdTfWQcbl

— Giselle Ombay (@giselleombay_) July 28, 2025

Senator Risa Hontiveros said Monday she will be joining the minority bloc again in the 20th Congress. 

Hontiveros made the announcement at a press conference an hour before the 20th Congress officially opens its first regular session.

“Hindi na mabubuo ‘yung una kong plano na independent bloc. Ako po ay magiging bahagi ng minority,” she said. 

(My plan to form an independent bloc will not push through. I will be joining the minority.) 

“Nung akala ko ibang bloke ng mga senador ang magiging minority, hindi ako sasama sa kanila. Pero ngayong iba pang bloke ang magbubuo ng minority at ibang senador ang magiging minority leader, ako’y naging bukas sa kanilang pag-iimbita at nagdesisyon akong sumama sa minority,” she added. 

(I was not supposed to join the minority when I thought that another set of senators would form the bloc. But now that another bloc will form the minority and another senator will be the minority leader, I became open to their invitation and I decided to join the minority.) 

Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri earlier floated the possibility of veteran senators, including him and Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Loren Legarda, and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, forming the Senate minority bloc in the 20th Congress. 

This so-called veterans bloc is pushing for Sotto to become the next Senate president, replacing Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

Zubiri said that their bloc is willing to adopt Hontiveros, who previously declared that she is open to becoming an “independent senator” in 20th Congress. 

Hontiveros, in response, said that she is open to the possibility as she hopes to “strengthen the opposition for 2028 and beyond.”

The lady senator said that she decided to join the Sotto-led bloc upon the invitation of the members and meeting with them. 

“We are like-minded sa pag-check and balance. We are like-minded sa pag-fiscalize. Lalo na sa panahon ngayon, well, ng baha obviously, ng paghahanda ng buong Senado para sa susunod na budget debates, sa pagte-check and balance at fiscalize sa mga importanteng issue batay sa rules ng Senado, batay sa tradisyon ng Senado, at pati sa mahalagang question ng impeachment,” she said. 

(We are like-minded in terms of check and balance, and in fiscalizing. Especially in this time of calamity, the preparation of the Senate for the budget debates, for the check and balance and fiscalizing important issues based on the rules of the Senate, based on the tradition of the Senate, and also on the important questions of impeachment.) 

Asked if Sotto will be the next minority leader, Hontiveros said that she “will be proud to serve in [the] minority” if that will be the case. — RSJ/AOL, GMA Integrated News