After days of speculation about a brewing coup, Senate President Tito Sotto confirmed Wednesday that there was an attempt to unseat him, but the efforts were unsuccessful after the majority prevented it from happening.
“They always decide…The majority, not me [that thwarted the coup],” Sotto told reporters in an ambush interview shortly after the plenary adjourned.
The announcement follows murmurs that Senator Loren Legarda is poised to snatch the chamber’s top post from Sotto, her colleague in the majority, amid the looming approval of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Report, recommending the filing of corruption charges against minority Senators Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, and Joel Villanueva over their alleged involvement in the corruption scheme in flood control projects.
Legarda could have been the first female senator to hold the Senate’s top post in history. Insiders claimed that Legarda had already secured 13 votes, enough to replace Sotto.
Sotto, however, did not elaborate on how the 15-member majority blocked the supposed shakeup, but he suspected that Legarda “declined” to succeed him to the presidency.
The Senate leader also debunked rumors of a “power-sharing,” which cropped up after Senator Kiko Pangilinan hinted at it in a Facebook post, along with a photo of a meeting with the majority bloc.
“He was just joking,” Sotto briefly said.
This, however, contradicts Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito’s claims that Sotto and Legarda agreed on a “term-sharing” agreement “towards the end of the term.”
“That's how the conversation was earlier—lounge talk, just so all is well, ends well. No brawling, just term-sharing,” Ejercito told reporters.
Tensions flared after the session was suspended for more than an hour and a half, and persisted further after Legarda suddenly presided over the session, taking over Sotto.
Majority Leader Migz Zubiri was noticeably grinning when he addressed Legarda as “Madame President.”
The tension only eased after Zubiri moved to adjourn the session, which Legarda approved, despite the minority bloc's absence on the floor.
Zubiri later assured Legarda that the call had the minority members' approval, though it was unclear whether they walked out of the hall after the botched attempt to unseat Sotto.
Before the session began, Minority Leader Alan Cayetano was present, alongside opposition Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Imee Marcos, Joel Villanueva, Bong Go, and Rodante Marcoleta.
But the session adjourned with 10 members of the majority present.
Sotto, nevertheless, said he is game on whatever role might be given to him, whether to be elected as minority leader anew, or just a “regular senator.”
Sotto earlier said if the attempts to oust him succeed, it could be due to his “strictness” in budget management, particularly “insertions,” and that another possible factor could be the sudden change in the leadership of the foreign relations committee, which was recently taken from opposition Senator Imee Marcos and handed to Senator Erwin Tulfo.
BRC chairperson Ping Lacson acknowledged the possibility that the approval of the committee report could fuel efforts to unseat Sotto, though he said it’s “part of the game.”
Earlier this week, Cayetano said that “it was never a secret” for the minority to reclaim the majority from the current leadership under Sotto, though he added that they still don’t have the 13 votes to do so.
The minority would need 13 votes to remove Sotto as Senate chief. At present, there are nine members in the opposition bloc. However, their numbers could drop by one due to the continued absence of Senator Bato de la Rosa, who has been absent since November due to an alleged warrant from the International Criminal Court.