Senator Ping Lacson on Friday denounced as “outright lies” the allegations by Senator Imee Marcos that the minority bloc is mounting a vigorous effort to snatch back the chamber’s leadership in order to push a so-called unholy alliance with the House of Representatives for Charter change (Cha-cha).

Lacson asserted there was no truth to Marcos’s allegation that there is a plot between the House and the Senate to amend the Constitution to extend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term by three years or until 2031.

The alleged motive for Cha-cha: to postpone the 2028 elections to derail Vice President Sara Duterte’s presidential bid, given the slim chance of her being convicted by the Senate impeachment court.

“Flat out lies, outright lies. Lies. We don’t have that kind of conversation even in our caucuses,” Lacson said in Filipino in a radio interview. “Whoever cooked up that tale, we don’t know what they are trying to get at.” 

Lacson did not elaborate  on the allegations, although he contended that the burden of proof rests entirely on the accuser. 

“I don’t know where those tales came from. If those who are spinning those stories have proof, then it’s up to them,” he said.

In a message to the Daily Tribune on Thursday, Senator Tito Sotto said Marcos’ allegation was  “not true,” saying that talk of Cha-cha are “of no moment.” However, he admitted that he had been told of the revived plan to amend the Constitution. 

In the same vein, Lacson argued that mounting a counter-coup is not a priority for now, as their “primordial concern” is to restore the integrity of the Senate following the 13 May shooting fiasco.

Political fiction

Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre also condemned Senator Marcos for her recent assertion that President Marcos was holding closed-door talks on extending his presidency until 2031.

Acidre noted that such baseless claims had no place in the current political sphere, particularly with the looming impeachment trial of Vice President  Duterte, which Senator Marcos will participate in as a senator-judge.