MANILA, Philippines — The Senate elected Senate Minority Leader Alan Cayetano as its new Senate president on Monday after 13 senators voted to replace Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III during a plenary session.
Nine senators voted for Sotto, while two abstained.
The leadership change took place shortly after the session opened, when Cayetano informed the chamber that at least 13 senators supported replacing the Senate leadership.
“May I manifest that there are now at least 13 members of the Senate who wish to have a leadership change,” Cayetano said on the Senate floor. He also said Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was on his way to the session hall.
Cayetano apologized to Sotto for informing him during the session and cited security concerns for not speaking to him beforehand.
Following Cayetano’s statement, the Senate suspended the session. When proceedings resumed, Sen. Joel Villanueva moved to declare all Senate leadership positions vacant. The chamber approved the motion with a 13-10-1 vote.
Sen. Imee Marcos then nominated Cayetano for Senate president.
Villanueva, acting as majority leader during the proceedings, moved to close the nominations. Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said he and allied senators had “serious reservations” about the leadership change but acknowledged they lacked the votes to oppose it.
“We do not object because we do not have the numbers, but we would like to manifest our serious reservations,” Pangilinan said.
Before nominations closed, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson nominated Sotto to retain the Senate presidency.
The Senate then proceeded to vote between Cayetano and Sotto, resulting in Cayetano’s election as Senate president.
