Cayetano takes over as Senate ousts Sotto

By Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel

THE Senate on Monday elected Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano as its new Senate president, replacing Senator Vicente C. Sotto III, just as the House of Representatives votes to impeach Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Voting 13-9 with two abstentions, the chamber ousted Mr. Sotto ahead of the expected impeachment trial in the Senate.

Senators also elected Senator Lorna Regina B. Legarda as the new Senate president pro tempore, while Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva replaced former Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri.

“Before us might be the impeachment [trial], but let me make it very clear, there are reports in the news — and I am not blaming you for what you report that the leadership change is about the impeachment, it is not,” Mr. Cayetano said in a press statement.

During his speech as the new Senate president, he also stressed the importance of basing the impeachment process on the mandates of the Constitution and evidence.

Joining the new majority block are Senators Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano, Ronald M. dela Rosa, Jose P. Estrada, Jr., Francis Joseph G. Escudero, Christopher Lawrence T. Go, Rodante D. Marcoleta, Maria Imelda R. Marcos, Robinhood C. Padilla, Mr. Villanueva, Camille Villar-Genuino, and Mark A. Villar.

However, for Mr. Sotto, the ouster plot “probably” has something to do with the impeachment.

“Because if I were Senate president, once the House approves the impeachment, I will constitute and convene an impeachment court,” he told reporters.

The House on Monday moved to impeach Ms. Duterte for the second time with 255 affirmative votes. She was first impeached in February 2025 with the endorsement of 200 congressmen, allowing the chamber to send the charges directly to the Senate for trial.

The ouster bid, however, died in the Senate after it archived the complaints, which accused her of fund misuse, unexplained wealth, destabilization efforts, and plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., his wife and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez. She has denied all charges.

Meanwhile, Mr. Zubiri has requested to be an independent member under the new leadership.

“I want to be an independent member of this August body and therefore I do not want to join the Majority nor the Minority to show no political color,” he told reporters in a Viber message.

Mr. Zubiri and Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito were the two senators who abstained during the voting.

Political analysts viewed the leadership change as a way to save Ms. Duterte from the impeachment.

“The most widely expected result of which is that the Senate is not made to convene as an impeachment court immediately,” Edmund S. Tayao, president and chief executive officer of Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists, told BusinessWorld via Messenger call.

For Mr. Tayao, this also signaled a constitutional crisis, noting that the worst that could come out of the recent developments is for the Senate to not convene as an impeachment court in the eventuality of a trial against Ms. Duterte.

Amr Solon S. Sison, a political science instructor at the Far Eastern University, said the leadership change could significantly affect the proceedings.

“There is a possibility for them to delay the trial, especially with the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision regarding the ‘forthwith’ issue wherein the SC says the Senate has a prerogative,” Mr. Sison said through Messenger chat, but noted that they have to act on the trial because it is their responsibility.