Gatchalian to support Sotto’s bid for Senate presidency

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has maintained that he will support Senate President Vicente Sotto III's bid for another term as the leader of the Senate all the way.

Gatchalian made the position just hours after Senator-elect and Ilocos Norte governor Imee Marcos claimed there are moves to unseat Sotto as Senate President and install Senator Cynthia Villar, the topnotcher in the recent May polls, instead.

“Si Senate President Sotto ay kapartido ho natin sa NPC (Nationalist People's Coalition). Si incoming Senator Lito Lapid ay miyembro rin po ng NPC,” Gatchalian said in an interview on GMA News TV's News To Go.

“Si Senator Sotto po ang inendorso ng aming partido and ako po ay sumusuporta ng buong loob sa na-endorse ng aming partido [para sa pagiging Senate President],” Gatchalian added.

Marcos has said that she would support Villar's bid for Senate chief, and that the group of Senator-elect Francis Tolentino is also pushing for Villar as top Senate leader.

Aside from Marcos and Villar, other senators in the upcoming 18th Congress who are Nacionalista Party members are Pia Cayetano.

Tolentino, on other other hand, is one of the 18th Congress senators belonging to the ruling party PDP-Laban alongside Christopher “Bong” Go, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

Senator Grace Poe, for her part, said that she will join the minority bloc if Sotto will be replaced as Senate president.

Poe does not belong to any political party, but Sotto has supported her in her 2016 presidential run and 2019 Senate reelection bid.

Gatchalian earlier said that Sotto need not be replaced as Senate president because he has the experience to take on the tough job. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News