Senator Ping Lacson on Friday denounced as “outright lies” the allegations made by Senator Imee Marcos that the minority bloc is aggressively trying to reclaim the Senate leadership to push a supposed unholy alliance with the House of Representatives for Charter change (Cha-cha).

Lacson said there is no truth to Marcos’ claim that there is an ongoing plot between the House and the Senate to amend the Constitution and extend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term by three years, or until 2031.

The alleged motive behind the supposed plan was to postpone the 2028 elections and derail Vice President Sara Duterte’s presidential bid due to the slim chance of her being convicted by the Senate impeachment court.

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

Lacson did not elaborate further on the allegations, although he stressed that the burden of proof lies with 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.

Last week’s leadership shake-up removed Senator Tito Sotto from the Senate presidency and installed Senator Alan Cayetano in his place.

Senator Marcos alleged that the current minority bloc, led by Sotto and his allies including Lacson, has been making strong efforts to regain the leadership due to its alleged alliance with the House to revive Cha-cha through a constitutional assembly, or con-ass.

She claimed the move was driven by the possibility that the Senate impeachment court may fail to secure enough votes to convict Duterte in any of the charges against her.

The Senate impeachment court would need a two-thirds vote, or at least 16 of the 24 sitting senators, to remove Duterte from office and permanently disqualify her from holding public office, including running for president.

According to Marcos, the supposed alliance to amend the Charter through con-ass is the administration’s last resort to block Duterte from seeking the presidency in 2028.

She alleged that the proposed constitutional amendments would focus on extending the terms of the President and House members by three years, matching the six-year term of senators.

Another alleged proposal is to raise the minimum age requirement for the presidency from 45 to 50, which would disqualify Duterte.

In a message to DAILY TRIBUNE on Thursday, Sotto dismissed Marcos’ allegations as “not true,” saying discussions about Cha-cha are “of no moment,” although he admitted he had heard about renewed plans to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Lacson also argued that mounting a counter-coup is not their priority at the moment, saying their “primordial concern” is to restore the integrity of the Senate following the 13 May shooting fiasco.