No one dared to challenge the Senate presidency of Vicente Sotto III as the upper chamber reopened session a mere 48 hours since a close ally bared a supposed plot to oust him.

The Senate’s reopening on Monday, July 26, lasted just 37 minutes, with senators first tackling various procedural resolutions for the conduct of the proceedings before Sotto delivered his speech outlining the chamber’s priorities in its last year under the 18th Congress. 

As soon as the Senate President ended his address, Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri moved to temporarily suspend session so senators could prepare for President Rodrigo Duterte’s sixth and final State of the Nation Address in the afternoon.

No one objected, so the session was suspended. Senators who were physically present during the hybrid session then went near the Senate President’s rostrum to take their annual “class photo.”

Senators who were physically present in the session hall all seemed relaxed in photos and videos taken of them before and after the proceedings. Many of them were seen engaging in light banter with Sotto. 

The Senate President also seemed unshaken by the alleged ouster plot when asked about it by reporters after the session ended. 

Sotto told reporters that even before Monday’s session began, senators Ronald dela Rosa and Bong Go approached him to say they had nothing to do with the supposed plot. Dela Rosa and Go are known to be close to President Rodrigo Duterte. 

Sotto said other senators who are not allied with his party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, also washed their hands of the alleged ouster plan. 

He reiterated his belief that the supposed coup probably did not materialize because the people behind it did not have the 13 signatures needed to unseat him.

“In other words, tama na rin yung sinabi ko noon (what I said before is still correct), that I actually brushed it aside and I said, I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues. You know, you can replace me anytime with 13 signatures. ‘Yun na ‘yun, ganun lang ‘yun (That’s all there is to it),” said the Senate President. 

“Siguro merong nakaisip pagkatapos ay hindi naman natuloy. Nag-fizzle out siguro,” he added. 

(Maybe someone had an idea to do it but it didn’t materialize. It probably fizzled out.)

It was Senator Panfilo Lacson, Sotto’s standard-bearer for the 2022 presidential race, who first told DWIZ on Saturday, July 24, that there are senators in the majority bloc who supposedly wanted to oust Sotto after the latter declared his bid for the vice presidency. 

Sotto himself confirmed this to Rappler, saying he was informed about the alleged plot by a staff member of one senator. 

On Monday, Sotto said there should not be any reason for his colleagues to boot him out just because he is eyeing a higher post in the 2022 elections. 

No law or rule bars a sitting Senate president to seek higher office. 

“As I said, on guard or not, I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues…. I don’t really pay much attention to [the ouster issue]. Because if ever they want a new leadership or a new leader, they will tell me about it, whoever’s behind it siguro (perhaps),” said the Senate President. 

Sotto still has ‘trust, confidence’ of senators

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri – who helps Sotto build consensus and whip votes in the chamber – said the Senate President still enjoys the “trust and confidence” of their colleagues. 

“The [Senate] President still has the trust and confidence of the majority, and even he has the love and trust of the minority. Very close po ‘yung Minority Leader sa ating Senate President (Our Senate President is very close even with our Minority Leader),” said Zubiri, referring to Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon.

Zubiri said he was not asked by anyone to sign any draft resolution or document expressing senators’ intention to remove Sotto as top Senate leader when the chamber was on a break these past two months. 

He then downplayed the alleged ouster, thinking it could just be “gossip” among Senate staff members. 

“Actually, [as] God as my witness, sinabi ko na ‘to, ‘di ako magsisinungaling sa inyo: Walang lumapit sa akin nung break for any resolution or any move to oust Senator Sotto. Narinig ko lang ‘yung balita na ‘yun through the staff and baka tsismis lang po ‘yan,” said the Senate Majority Leader. 

(Actually, as God as my witness, and I already told you this and I would never lie to you: No one approached me during the break for any resolution or any move to oust Senator Sotto. I only heard about the news through the staff and maybe this is just gossip.)

Zubiri hopes there would be no more talk about the alleged Sotto ouster plot, saying any leadership change would certainly get in the way of the Senate’s legislative agenda.

He argued time is running out for lawmakers, since the filing of candidacies for the 2022 elections is in October 2021 and the campaign season would be in full swing by January 2022.

“So that’s why my appeal is we stop the discussions of all these leadership changes and let’s focus on the job at hand. We only have three months left, realistically,” Zubiri said.

But this is not the first time Sotto faced a threat to his Senate presidency. He started serving in the top Senate post May 2018, in a term-sharing agreement with Senator Aquilino Pimentel III during the previous 17th Congress.

In mid-2019, rumors were abound that neophyte and reelected senators wanted Senator Cynthia Villar – who topped the senatorial polls at the time – to replace Sotto. Villar denied this. 

The persistent ouster rumors prompted Pimentel and Senator Manny Pacquiao of the ruling PDP-Laban to draft a resolution expressing a “vote of confidence” for Sotto in June 2019. Villar refused to sign the resolution.

Sotto came out unscathed, however, as senators ultimately passed a resolution reelecting him as Senate President in July 2019. 

It would be tricky to stage an ouster in the Senate this time, however, since the chamber is implementing a hybrid setup to observe physical distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. – Rappler.com