Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26) — Senate President Tito Sotto III downplayed a supposed plot to oust him from office following his announcement that he will join the 2022 vice presidential race.
“I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues. Therefore, I don’t really pay much attention to it,” Sotto said in a media briefing after presiding over the third regular session of the 18th Congress on Monday.
READ: Sotto: I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues
Sotto said the report of a supposed ouster only came from one of the employees in the Senate, but it eventually “fizzled out.”
He added that if any of his colleagues want to boot him out of his post, they would have told him already.
Sotto will run in tandem with Senator Ping Lacson in the upcoming elections. They are also finalizing their senatorial line-up, as well as alliances with other political parties.
Sotto, who chairs the National People’s Coalition, mentioned a possible forging of alliance with United Nationalist Alliance and Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma but did not give other details.
“I will always be on top of the situation in the Senate until 2022,” he stressed, when asked whether he can manage to maintain his performance in leading the chamber for the remaining months of his term.
Sotto first told CNN Philippines that he and Lacson will run in 2022 and will prove themselves through their “capability, honesty, and bravery.”
The filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2022 elections is set for October.
READ: Lacson-Sotto tandem confirmed for 2022 polls
