Before flying to Davao City, President Rodrigo Duterte hosted a dinner with fifteen senators on Tuesday night.
Present were lawmakers from the Senate majority led by Senate President Koko Pimentel and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III.
Other senators who came were Senators Manny Pacquiao, Joel Villanueva, Cynthia Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Grace Poe, Miguel Zubiri, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Nancy Binay, Loren Legarda, Ralph Recto and Sonny Angara.
Pimentel said, "wala naman kaming agenda o resultang gustong makamit (we did not have any agenda or result we wanted to achieve). Very simple dinner. Conversation was free-wheeling. Parang kwentuhan ng magkakaibigan. General topics lang (It was just like sharing of stories among friends. Topics were general)."
The senate leader also said, at one point, Duterte showed them a booklet containing names of some persons involved in illegal drug trade.
Pimentel said he already had his own copy of that document.
The group also shared a light moment with Senator Loren Legarda, following the Senate ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Senator JV Ejercito described the event as “intimate.”
He said the tax reform agenda was also mentioned.
Pimentel added Senator Grace Poe brought up the issue on emergency powers just before she went home.
Senator Gringo Honasan was absent from the dinner since it was his birthday.
The event was the first time a large number of senators shared a meal with the President.
Congress will adjourn on Friday, March 17 and will resume sessions on May 2, 2017.