Alan Cayetano asserts Senate majority remains solid amid leadership talks

The 13-member Senate majority bloc remains "solid" amid talks of possible leadership change, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said Monday.

"Buo 'yung 13. Sa 13, walang onsehan," Cayetano told reporters.

(The 13 members are solid. We will not betray each other.)

Onsehan is a Tagalog slang term referring to betraying, cheating, or double-crossing.

Over the weekend, rumors of another Senate shakeup after Senators Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, and Vicente "Tito" Sotto III expressed support for Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who is reportedly being eyed as a possible next Senate president.

Senator Risa Hontiveros also backed Gatchalian's possible senate president earlier, saying it "would be good for the Senate".

The majority bloc consists of Cayetano and Senators Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, Loren Legarda, Pia Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Joel Villanueva, Camille, and Mark Villar.

The minority bloc, meanwhile, is composed of Hontiveros, Gatchalian, Pangilinan, Lacson, Sotto, Senators Bam Aquino, Lito Lapid, Raffy Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, JV Ejercito, and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Zubiri

Meanwhile, Zubiri confirmed the minority bloc is in talks with other members of the majority but said they have yet to gather votes for a Senate coup.

"Wala pa, wala pa," Zubiri said in a chance interview.

(We have no numbers yet.)

"Medyo mainit pa ang ulo ng mga senador sa pangyayari last week. Medyo kailangan po natin kalmahin ang mga emotions nila, tapos mag-usap-usap po kami. Pero so far, we're still talking to several individuals, and hopefully magkakaroon kami ng coalition. So we'll see," he said.

(The senators are still angry over last week's incident. We just need to calm down first before talking. So far, we're talking to several individuals, and hopefully, we'll have a coalition. So let's see.)

Zubiri, however, said the minority bloc will rally behind Gatchalian's senate presidency/

"Senator Win is the most acceptable candidate to all of us, kasi maganda naman yung handling niya sa Finance Chairmanship niya pag head ng Finance Committee," the senator said.

"Nakita, very fair, very transparent, and that's what we want. And of course, he's also a consultative leader, so hopefully we get one or two more from the majority bloc," he added. –NB, GMA News