Senator-elect Robin Padilla on Tuesday expressed readiness to join the Senate ahead of the opening of the 19th Congress in July.,“One-hundred percent. If they want me to sit there, I’m now ready,” said Padilla.,He attended a briefing with the chamber’s legislative department, which he requested ahead of the incoming senators’ orientation set on 28 June.,
,The briefing is part of the three-day program he took at the Development Academy of the Philippines in preparation for his new role as a legislator.,Padilla said he is still not used to his new role as lawmaker, however, he promised to do his best in the Senate.,“If you want to do something, it’s easy. I’m not just familiar yet with this because it is different. I was a summa cum laude in cutting classes before,” he said.,“Now, it’s different. I’m now the one who will look for something to do,” he added., ,‘Cha-cha as first bill’,Padilla, who topped the recently-concluded senatorial race with more than 26 million votes, outvoting veteran senators, both incumbent and returning senators, also expressed confidence to lead the major committees in the upper chamber.,“That will be difficult if you don’t know what you’ll do. As for me, I know what I’m going to do,” he said.,“Our lawyers are there to guide me. It is not difficult for me, those who are having a hard time are the public. [We] need to change the Constitution,” he added.,Padilla, who is advocating federal form of government, is poised to chair the Committees on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development.,He said that his first bill in the Senate would be a charter change bill, like what he had promised during the campaign period.,“If we really want a ‘real change,’ we really need to embrace the charter change,” he said.,“I don’t think the 26 million Filipinos voted for me because I am Robin Padilla. Who am I? Ex-convict, womanizer, all of the negative things, I have it but they voted for me because they believe in federalism,” he added., ,‘Debate in Filipino’,Padilla also noted that he is ready to debate with his fellow legislators, however, in Filipino.,“First, I will not be facing Americans so I don’t see a reason to speak English. Perhaps if they’re Americans, well, I’m willing to debate in English. But since they are Filipinos, let’s speak Tagalog,” he said.