Senator JV Ejercito strongly rejected reports that he would join the majority bloc of Senate President Alan Cayetano amid speculations of a brewing counter-coup following senators’ growing displeasure over how the botched attempt to arrest Senator Bato dela Rosa unfolded.

Ejercito told the DAILY TRIBUNE that he turned down an offer to become majority leader in exchange for moving from independent to joining Cayetano’s 13-member majority bloc.

The proposal aims to ensure that Cayetano has sufficient numbers to retain the Senate’s top post in the face of a reported counter-coup allegedly instigated by Senator Tito Sotto and allies.

If the coup succeeds, Cayetano would be the shortest-serving Senate president in history, holding the post for only a week.

Recall that Sotto was ousted last Monday in favor of Cayetano in a 13-9-2 vote. Dela Rosa’s surprise return to the Senate, following a six-month-long absence, gave Cayetano enough votes to snatch the presidency from Sotto.

Ejercito and Senator Migz Zubiri — who were part of the former majority under Sotto — abstained from voting and declared themselves independent.

Had Ejercito and Zubiri voted against Cayetano, Sotto could have had 11 votes, although the figure is still insufficient for him to retain the post.

According to reports, Zubiri is being nominated as a potential replacement for Cayetano if the planned coup prospers.

Zubiri already held the post during the 19th Congress, but resigned following rumors of a coup in favor of Senator Chiz Escudero. Escudero, meanwhile, retained the presidency up to the 20th Congress, but was ousted in September last year in favor of Sotto.

Murmurs of a brewing coup against Cayetano allegedly stemmed from the senators’ growing discontent over how he handled dela Rosa’s case, leading to the 13 May shooting incident involving NBI operatives inside the Senate premises, which put the Senate in a bad light internationally.

However, Senator Erwin Tulfo said he still has “no idea” regarding the supposed coup because, as of Sunday, no one has reached out to him and his brother, Senator Raffy Tulfo, to court their votes.

Although he took offense at Cayetano’s statement accusing the minority of leaving the Senate before the shooting happened after allegedly receiving a tip, he believed that it was “unfair” to put all the blame on him pending the investigation.

Nonetheless, Tulfo maintained that the Senate leadership under Cayetano must cooperate with the Ombudsman’s investigation to ferret out the truth and hold those accountable.

“So we can determine if [the Senate] was indeed under attack, or if the NBI really stormed it or not. Because otherwise, and it was merely a so-called ‘staged shootout,’ then maybe the Senate president should step down,” Tulfo said, partly in Filipino, in a radio interview.

Critics have alleged that the Senate shootout was merely “staged,” designed to allow dela Rosa to exit the Senate premises unnoticed and evade authorities serving the ICC warrant.

They also pointed to dela Rosa’s abrupt return just before Cayetano snatched the Senate’s top post from Sotto.

Senators allied with Sotto had claimed that they were unaware of the coup last week, given that dela Rosa, the deciding vote, has gone into hiding and has been absent from sessions since November last year.