Cayetano tags Lacson as behind 'counter-coup' claims

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday, 15 September, tagged Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson as the one behind "counter-coup" claims.

"Sino ang nag-bring up? Si Sen. Ping [Lacson]. Sino ring bumara nung Sunday? Si Sen. Ping din diba? (Who brought it up? It was Sen. Ping Lacson. Who debunked it? Sen. Lacson too)," Cayetano said in an ambush interview.

"Ilang ang websites at Facebook pages sa Pilipinas, isandaang milyon. May isang website magsasabing si Sen. Cayetano na [Senate President], maniniwala sila? Ang tawag diyan hulidap (There are about 100 million websites and Facebook pages in the Philippines. There's one website that said Sen. Cayetano will soon take over as Senate President. Will he believe it right away? That's called hulidap)," he added.

Cayetano was referring to the post of "OneTV Philippines" on 13 September, with the caption "BREAKING: Another Regodon (sic) in the Senate?", claimed that "Senate Minority Leader Allan (sic) Peter Cayetano secures numbers for Senate presidency — a reliable source tells OneTV Philippines."

According to the Facebook page of "OneTV Philippines," it is "a Digital News Network Globally-Based in Davao City and Pagadian City.

On Sunday, Lacson debunked the post as "faky breaky news." He added that the post was intended to "deceive and confuse."

Meanwhile, Cayetano denied claims of a "counter-coup," he said that "the minority always wants to be the majority."

"The minority always wants to be the majority. Hindi pa namin napag-uusapan sa minority na kung may papalit man, sino o kung papayag sila na ako yung minority leader (But we still haven't talked about who will replace the Senate President or who will become the minority leader)," he said.

"Wala pang nag-uusap kung sino yung Senate President. Sila nag-bring up, sila rin babaril. We are minding our own business, so with all due respect, mind your own business. Pakialaman niyo yung mga sarili niyong problema (No one's talking about who the Senate President is. They brought it up, then they will be down to shoot it down, too. We are just minding our own business, so with all due respect, mind your own business too. Mind your own problems)," he added.

A leadership change took place in the Senate on 8 September, where then Senate minority leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III was elected Senate President, replacing Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero.

The leadership change also saw Lacson being elected as Senate President Pro Tempore, replacing Senator Jinggoy Estrada.