Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri on Thursday admitted that he was behind the proposal to install Loren Legarda as the first woman Senate president, replacing incumbent Tito Sotto III, but only in 2028.

Zubiri said the idea was initially raised in jest, but Sotto agreed to it on the condition that the transition would take place only after the Senate’s transfer to its new building in Taguig, likely in the latter part of 2027.

“I’ve mentioned it to [Legarda] because she asked me if it was a joke. Then I said, ‘I don’t think it’s a joke; we mean it, and I think the members of the majority that were there did not object…No resistance,” Zubiri told reporters in a chance interview.

Zubiri was referring to a remark he made during Wednesday’s session when he addressed Legarda as “Madame President” after she briefly took over the rostrum from Sotto following a nearly two-hour suspension of the session.

The development comes amid persistent rumors of a leadership shakeup linked to the impending approval of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report, which recommends the filing of corruption charges against minority senators Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, and Joel Villanueva over their alleged involvement in the flood control scam.

The presence of minority senators — including Imee Marcos and Estrada — at Legarda’s office on Wednesday further fueled speculation that the opposition bloc was courting her to unseat Sotto.

Zubiri and Legarda both belong to the Senate majority and were among those who voted to remove Escudero in favor of Sotto in September last year.

Zubiri previously served as Senate president in 2022 but stepped down in May 2024 amid an alleged coup plot to replace him with Escudero.

He said the proposed leadership transition is intended to keep control of the Senate presidency within the majority bloc, noting ongoing efforts to persuade some members of the nine-member minority to join the majority.

“It’s not official, but the understanding was the latter part of Senator Sotto’s term as Senate president of the 20th Congress, that we will elect the first woman Senate president in the history of this Congress,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri also said Legarda is “very well enabled and very qualified to be the future Senate president,” citing her decades of experience in Congress.

Legarda, however, said she has “no idea” about any term-sharing arrangement. Zubiri countered that she was merely being “humble” and that she had been informed of the plan.

Sotto, for his part, said Legarda is expected to assume the Senate presidency before the end of his term in 2028, coinciding with the conclusion of the 20th Congress.

He dismissed the notion of a “term-sharing” agreement, saying he had already agreed to step aside in favor of Legarda based on a consensus within the majority bloc.