No active efforts to oust Sotto - Cayetano

Metro Manila, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday said there are currently no active attempts to unseat Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

This comes after Sotto himself dismissed coup rumors earlier in the week, citing a phone conversation with Cayetano. However, Senator Imee Marcos, a member of the minority, told reporters the next day that the minority bloc was dissatisfied with the Senate’s current direction. She neither confirmed nor denied if they were plotting a coup.

In a press conference on Wednesday, October 8, Cayetano set the record straight.

“Walang active ano ngayon [There are no active efforts right now],” Cayetano said.

He added there is no expected leadership change before Congress adjourns for its month-long break this Friday. Asked if any resolution was being circulated to collect signatures for a new Senate president, Cayetano answered plainly: “Wala [none].”

“Kasi tingin nga namin, happy pa sila sa majority [Because we think they are still happy with the majority], and I think we have a role to play in the minority,” Cayetano said.

“Usually it doesn't happen when it's noisy,” he added.

He noted, however, that the minority naturally aspires to become the majority and hinted that leadership change could “fall in our lap” if some members of the 15-strong majority bloc jump ship.

Since the minority bloc currently has nine members, it needs four more to achieve the 13 votes needed to elect a new Senate President.

It’s only been a month since Sotto replaced Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero in a controversial coup. Escudero has since been accused of receiving kickbacks from flood control projects, allegations he has denied.

Talks of another coup have resurfaced amid tensions surrounding the Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into the flood control anomalies, leading to the resignation of Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson as committee chair.

Minority senators have criticized what they claim is selective scrutiny in the probe, claiming that senators like Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada were supposedly being targeted, while congressmen have not been subjected to the same level of investigation. Lacson has denied any political bias, while both Villanueva and Estrada also denied the kickback allegations.