Sen. Ronald de la Rosa tears up as Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri delivers his resignation speech.

MANILA  — Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri finally admitted on Tuesday that defending Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa had cost his leadership in the Senate.

Zubiri only made this categorical admission after learning that Dela Rosa was one of 15 senators who signed a resolution supporting the newly installed Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

This revelation caught him “dumbfounded,” the resigned Senate leader told reporters.

“Alam mo (You know), I thought I’ve seen strange things in my political career, and this happens to be the strangest,” Zubiri said.

“If I was heartbroken yesterday, now I’m dumbfounded. I really don’t get it; I could not understand and grasp what happened,” he told reporters in Filipino.

In his resignation speech on Monday, Zubiri even thanked Dela Rosa for having stuck it out with him until the end.

 “At least he knows I defended him as a chairman of the committee and because of that, sacrifices were made. I was the sacrifice there. I lost my position,” he continued.

He was referring to Dela Rosa’s chairmanship of the Senate committee on public order, which is investigating the alleged leaked Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency documents that supposedly linked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and actress Maricel Soriano to illegal drugs.

The probe, however, has been criticized by several lawmakers, who questioned the credibility of former PDEA agent Jonathan Morales, the alleged source of the leaked documents.

 “Medyo masakit, masakit (It’s a bit painful),” Zubiri said, recalling how he campaigned for Dela Rosa in his province in Bukidnon.

“It’s very surreal, really surreal. I can’t understand. It’s like being in a twilight zone,” he added.

When asked if he felt betrayed by Dela Rosa, Zubiri said: “Let the people decide.”

Zubiri said he would just move on, recognizing the reality in politics that “there’s no permanent friends, only permanent interests.”

Zubiri believes the move to oust him started when he did not agree to the proposed timeline for the approval of charter change, and when he allowed the Senate probe into the so-called Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) leaks, which has remained dubious.

Zubiri said the Marcos camp was displeased with him for allowing the probe by Dela Rosa’s committee into the PDEA leaks that claimed the supposed involvement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in illegal drugs. After four hearings, Dela Rosa failed to establish the alleged Marcos drug links. His colleagues, including Escudero, dismissed the allegation as hearsay, while leaders in the House of Representatives earlier questioned why the Senate continued to conduct the probe.

Zubiri had warned Dela Rosa to stop using Senate hearings for political persecution, but failed to stop the probe. Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that it was former president Rodrigo Duterte who instructed Dela Rosa to conduct hearings on the alleged PDEA leaks.

At a separate press briefing on Tuesday, Dela Rosa admitted that he backed Escudero’s leadership, saying his vote was already “insignificant” anyway since the majority votes were already reached when he was asked to sign.

“Sorry, boss, I failed to win the war for you,” Dela Rosa told Zubiri.

Meanwhile, Escudero said he campaigned on his own to be new leader of the Senate, refuting allegations that his election as the third highest government official was influenced by other political forces.

Escudero told Senate reporters that he started campaigning on Thursday, May 16, and finalized his numbers on Sunday night, May 19.

“Sinimulan kong makipag-usap dahil marami naman nang at that time na may mga agam-agam,” Escudero said, when asked if it was accurate to say that he initiated the change in leadership. (I started talking to my colleagues because many of them were already doubtful at that time.)

The new Senate President didn’t respond when he was asked to elaborate on what he meant by doubtful colleagues.

Escudero was able to secure 15 votes to take over the Senate presidency from Zubiri.