Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Marilyn Cahatol

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA <strong>(3rd Update) </strong>— Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano replaced Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as the Senate president on Monday, May 11. </p><p>Cayetano was nominated by Sen. Imee Marcos. Following no objection from other senators, Sen. Joel Villanueva moved to close the nomination.</p><p>Broken down, 13 senators voted to elect Cayetano as Senate president while nine voted for Sotto. Two senators abstained.</p><p>Sotto served as Senate president for eight months. He replaced Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero who had replaced Sen. Juan Migual Zubiri as presiding officer.</p><p>In a tweet, Sotto said that his presidency of the Senate has always been at the pleasure of his colleagues.</p><p>&quot;Rest assured, Senate president or not, my allegiance is to the Constitution and my loyalty is to the Filipino people,&quot; he said.</p><p>In his speech as the new Senate president, Cayetano said the leadership change was not about the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, which the House plenary is set to vote on.</p><p>“Before us might be the impeachment. Let it be very clear: May mga lumalabas sa news na ang pagpalit ng leadership ay tungkol sa impeachment, hindi po,” Cayetano said. </p><p>He said Duterte’s impeachment case will be “much more than dismissing a complaint because of political affiliation” and “much more than convicting someone without evidence.”</p><p>“Parehong pwede iyon. Kailangan guided tayo by the truth, guided by evidence. But the process is as important as the result.”</p><p>“Hindi natin pwedeng sabihin ‘She or he will make a bad president, or wala na tayong maaasahan diyan sa presidente, wala na tayong maaasahan sa vice president, i-impeach na lang natin’, hindi po,” he said. </p><p>While the session was suspended, Sotto talked to the media and said he was “not surprised” by the sudden leadership change. </p><p>He added: “We will insist that the impeachment articles, once submitted to us, be taken up.” </p><p>In her sponsorship speech while the Senate changed leadership, Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas 2nd District, chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, stressed that no institution could escape their &quot;moral&quot; and &quot;constitutional&quot; duty to tackle the impeachment case of Duterte.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>GO: NO DISCUSSION ON BLOCKING POTENTIAL TRIAL</strong></div><p>Minutes before the coup at the Senate, Sen Bong Go maintained that Duterte-allied senators have had no discussions on blocking the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte should the House of Representatives vote to impeach her.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s our mandate &#x27;no? Obligasyon naman natin &#x27;to. Kaya nga po tayo may Constitution na dapat sundin.&quot;</p><p>Go added: &quot;Wala pong ganoong usapan at hindi ho kami nag-uusap na maghaharang po ng convening.&quot;</p><p>Last week, Sen. Robinhood Padilla of the Duterte-led PDP Laban party, bared plans for the Senate minority to oppose a trial.</p><p>Go said he wants the truth to come out and he will ferret out the truth.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s our mandate po. Ako naman, gusto kong maging impartial tayo sa, sa mga kasamahan ko rito sa Senado. Yun naman po ang trabaho natin as senator judge. Na maging impartial at lumabas yung katotohanan.&quot; </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>BAYAN: IMPEACHMENT HELD HOSTAGE</strong></div><p>In a statement on Facebook, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan president Renato Reyes said the coup at the Senate shows the escalation of the rivalry between factions of the former UniTeam administration alliance.</p><p>&quot;Ngayong araw, ating nakita na hostage na naman ng mga nagbabanggaang interes sa pulitika ang isyu ng impeachment at accountability sa corruption,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Babalik ba tayo sa panahon na idi-dribble muna ang pagdaraos ng trial? O iraratsada ba ang trial tungo sa acquittal? Ang taumbayan na umaasa na matuloy na ang trial, at makita na ang ebidensya, testigo at depensa, ay muli na namang mabibigo.&quot;</p><p>He added the political maneuvering is part of a political system that he said is rotten and prevents meaningful reforms and accountability in government. <strong>— with RG Cruz and Rowegie Abanto, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div><br/></div><div><em>More details to follow. </em></div><div><br/></div><div><em>.</em></div>

<p>Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has replaced Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as the new Senate president on Monday, May 11.</p>

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has replaced Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as the new Senate president on Monday, May 11.

Cayetano is new Senate president, replacing Sotto

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Cayetano is new Senate president, replacing Sotto

Marilyn Cahatol,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 11, 2026 03:39 PM PHT

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Updated May 11, 2026 04:49 PM PHT

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Alan Peter Cayetano

Senate

Tito Sotto

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