Without anyone having the clear edge to become head of the Upper Chamber, acting Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Saturday he will ask the Senate secretary to temporarily preside when the 15th Congress opens its regular session on July 26.

Enrile made his position clear to Senate reporters as the two contenders for the Senate presidency – Senators Manuel Villar Jr. and Francis Pangilinan – appeared unable to get the required 13 votes to snag the Senate presidency.

In his stead, Enrile said he would ask Senate Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes to preside over the session on July 26 because she is an officer of the Senate.

As a noted constitutionalist, Enrile said he would suggest that no senator who does not have 13 votes sit at the rostrum because for one to sit at the presiding officer’s chair creates an advantage over the other contender.

“No one has the authority to use the (Senate) gavel without 13 votes,’’ Enrile said.

Enrile said he would not preside over the opening of the Senate session to stop people from suspecting that he is drooling over the post.

He earlier said that his tenure as Senate President ended last June 30, the end of his first six-year term as senator. He ran and won for another six-year term under the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) party of former President Joseph Estrada in the May 10 elections.

But he refused to act on administrative matters, but asked the Senate secretary to act as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Senate.

A study by the Senate legal office, however, stated that Enrile should act as acting Senate chief until the election of his successor.

After being told that the operation of the Senate would be paralyzed if he does not act as acting Senate President, Enrile agreed to continue discharging his duties, but would not preside over the opening of the Senate regular session.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said that Enrile’s term as Senate chief ended last June 30 and that the Senate should hold a caucus to determine who shall act as acting Senate chief to preside, if no Senate President is elected.

Osmeña said this same acting Senate chief shall sit at the right side of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III when the latter delivers his State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA) in a joint congressional session in the afternoon of July 26 at the House of Representatives at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City.

Asked to comment on the possibility that he might emerge as the compromise Senate President if an impasse takes place, Enrile said the full Senate should come together to elect the President.

The reason not one of the contenders could muster the 13 votes at present is that a tug-of-war exists between the camps of Villar and Pangilinan on the issue of committee chairmanships, he pointed out.

He said he signed a resolution seeking the election of Pangilinan as the Senate chief because this would indicate that he is not interested in staying as Senate President.

Pressed again that he appears as “dark horse” in the selection of Senate President, Enrile said he is not initiating or campaigning for the post as he does not know who would vote for him.

While Villar supposedly has six to seven votes, Pangilinan has 11 votes.

But Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, a Villar ally, maintained that Villar has already wrapped up enough votes to win the Senate presidency.

Osmeña, on the other hand, is confident  that Pangilinan would bag the Senate presidency. “He is the frontrunner,’’ he added.