Metro Manila, Philippines – A number of senators are supposedly pushing for Senator Loren Legarda to replace Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Sotto said Legarda personally spoke to him recently, informing that someone from the minority tapped her to become Senate president.
“Sinabi niya hindi siya interesado [She said she was not interested],” Sotto said.
He said the 15-member majority bloc remains “solid” and could even gain more allies.
“Ang buong majority namin very solid. As a matter of fact baka mga dalawa, mga isa o dalawa sa hindi namin kasama dati baka mapasama pa eh,” Sotto said.
[Translation: The whole majority remains very solid. As a matter of fact, one or two senators who are not our allies might join us.]
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said some colleagues are spreading false information about Legarda as behind supposed coup attempts.
“After dangling the Senate presidency to her, they are now floating the falsehood that it was Sen. Loren who volunteered to recruit warm bodies to pave the way for a new Senate majority,” Lacson said on X.
“It is not only malicious. It is sadistic,” he added.
The nine-member Senate minority would need four more votes to reach the majority required to elect a new Senate president.
Senator Robin Padilla, a member of the minority, said he does not see the need to replace Sotto at this time. However, he noted that his position could change if the Senate receives the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Should that happen, Padilla said he would support a Senate leader aligned with Duterte.
“Syempre hindi naman siguro kaila sa inyo ayoko ng impeachment… Inday ako eh, ayoko ng impeachment ni Inday,” he added, referring to the moniker of the vice president
[Translation: Of course, it probably isn’t a secret to you that I don’t want impeachment… I’m an Inday supporter, so I don’t want Inday to be impeached.]
Senators are expected to refrain from commenting on their personal views on any impeachment proceedings since they sit as senator-judges during the trial.
