Sotto bares reports of new ouster efforts against him

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Tuesday said that he has heard stories of alleged efforts to initiate another change in leadership in the Senate, now that the upper chamber is set to resume its session. 

The Senate will resume its session at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11, after adjourning for a month. It was supposed to begin on Monday, November 10, but the Senate suspended work due to the threat of Super Typhoon Uwan. 

“We hear it (coup attempts) every now and then. It’s a common kwento (story),” Sotto said in an ambush interview. 

“During the weekend? One or two stories lang, meron daw lumalakad, meron daw kumakausap. Ganon lang,” he added. 

(During the weekend, I heard one or two stories that someone was initiating an ouster and is talking to others about it. That’s it.) 

The Senate President said he has no idea how many senators were involved in the latest coup rumor against him.  

“Ako naman, ika nga, (for me) I leave it to our peers. The Senate president should always leave it to the wisdom and the trust and confidence of his colleagues,” Sotto emphasized. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson previously warned that should he decide to return as chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, Sotto should be ready to face the consequences of it as they may lose some members of the majority bloc. 

Lacson is expected to be reelected as the blue ribbon panel chairman during Tuesday’s session. 

Before the session adjourned on October 10, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano denied that there was a resolution being circulated seeking to replace Sotto as Senate President.

The majority bloc is currently composed of 15 members, while the Cayetano-led minority bloc has nine members, which includes the so-called Duterte bloc. The latter only needs the support of at least four more senators for a possible shakeup in the upper chamber.

Cayetano comments

In a separate ambush interview, Cayetano explained that talks about a potential leadership change are often being raised.

“Basta naman may break tapos may balikan, parating paguusapan because nga sa 24 members, siyam kami and then ‘yung outside environment di ba? Having said that, usually kapag maingay ‘yan, wala ‘yan,” Cayetano said. 

(There are always talks about that, especially since we just came from a break. It’s because we have 24 senators, and there are nine of us in the minority. Having said that, when it's noisy, there's usually nothing that would happen.)

“People always talk about it. Everyone in the minority wants to be in the majority, di ba? Everyone thinks they can do a better job. But ako, focused ako na may job ang minority ngayon. And I think our biggest job now is to give better ideas for the budget,” he added. 

(People always talk about it. Everyone in the minority wants to be in the majority, right? Everyone thinks they can do a better job. But what I want is the minority to focus on its job and I think our biggest job now is to give better ideas for the budget. —VAL, GMA Integrated News