By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
THE SENATE voted Senator Vicente “Tito” C. Sotto III as Senate President after 15 senators agreed to oust Senator Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero in a surprise move on Monday, as the chamber’s leadership faced scrutiny.
Fifteen senators voted to elect Mr. Sotto during the plenary session, upon Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri’s nomination following his motion to declare the Senate President post vacant.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Sotto confirmed that about 15 senators signed a resolution in support of his bid to lead the chamber.
“The leadership has faced a lot of (criticism), It’s probably a good thing that we try to calm things down in the Senate,” Mr. Sotto told reporters on Monday.
Mr. Sotto, who led the minority bloc, said he had met with Mr. Escudero who agreed to step down, just a little over a month since he was re-elected as Senate President.
“I will do everything in my capacity to ensure that this Senate will remain cooperative but independent, balanced, transparent, and sincere,” Mr. Sotto told the Senate plenary.
“Corruption is now perceived by our people to be in the whole of government,” he added. “But with the political will of those in position and together with the vigilance and clamor from the public, we can fight this and bring transparency and true accountability that our nation deserves.”
Mr. Sotto sat as Senate President in the 17th and 18th Congress from 2018 to 2022.
The newly appointed Senate chief had previously challenged Mr. Escudero for the Senate Presidency during the start of the 20th Congress last July.
The ex-Senate chief has been under scrutiny over delays in the impeachment trial of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio. His campaign donor was also among the President’s list of top 15 firms that cornered the largest chunk of the country’s flood control projects.
The Senate is currently conducting a probe on alleged anomalies stemming from the country’s flood control projects.
“During my tenure the Senate did not shy away from confronting the difficult questions facing our nation. We passed a record number of laws that helped uplift the lives of our countrymen. We conducted hearings that unearthed corruption on a scale rarely seen before,” Mr. Escudero said in a speech.
“In doing so we remind the public that accountability is not a mere empty rhetoric but a duty that we must all uphold,” he added.
Senate President Pro-Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” P. Ejercito Estrada and Senate Majority Leader Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva also resigned from their leadership roles to give way for the new Senate leadership.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson was elected as Senate President pro-tempore, while Senator Zubiri was appointed majority floor leader.
Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo De Manila University, said that the newly appointed Senate chief is expected to change the decisions and directions taken by Mr. Escudero.
“Now that (Mr. Sotto) has the Senate leadership and no longer competing with Mr. Escudero in getting support of their colleagues, he has to lead the Senate institution in handling the sensitive issue of the impeachment and corruption involving lawmakers-especially his colleagues,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
Mr. Aguirre said that the new Senate chief may revive the impeachment trial of the Vice-President, along with taking a more aggressive stand on the upper chamber’s probe on flood control.
“(Mr.) Sotto is expected to pursue the impeachment and yes, might be aggressive too in heading the senate institution in facing the issue of the flood control mess,” he added.
Gary Ador Dionisio, dean of the Benilde School of Diplomacy and Governance, said that the new Senate leadership should be more independent and promote transparency and people’s participation in the crafting of the 2026 budget.
“With their leadership, there is an opportunity that budget not only of (Department of Public Works and Highways) will be further scrutinized and addressed all possible insertions from various lawmakers,” he said in a Messenger chat. “At the minimum, we will have at least a modicum decency in our national budget.”
Mr. Dionisio added that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee could also initiate some investigations related to the confidential and intelligence fund of Ms. Duterte.
Hansley A. Juliano, a political science lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, said that the leadership change “may have been an opportunity to engineer a comeback more than a policy shift.”
“If the emerging coalition is once again veering towards the Marcoses it is a better position to be in for at least the short-term budget cycle,” he said via Messenger chat.