Minority takes over Senate; Sotto, Lacson, Zubiri get top posts
MANILA, Philippines — After officially ousting Sen. Francis Escudero from the Senate presidency, minority bloc senators have made a stunning rise to the upper chamber’s top spots.
Escudero rose to the Senate presidency after Sen. Miguel Zubiri was ousted in 2024.
Zubiri himself made the motion to declare the Senate presidency vacant, effectively removing Escudero.
Sen. Tito Sotto replaced Escudero as Senate president after securing around 15 votes.
In his first speech as Senate president, Sotto thanked his fellow lawmakers for their vote of confidence.
Sotto said that his election came at a critical time, when massive corruption anomalies were exposed in the government.
“Our people are enraged at corruption. Corruption that is now seen, heard and felt by Filipinos more than ever,” Sotto said.
Sotto assured his fellow lawmakers that he was there to listen to them, not to position himself as their “superior”.
He said that uprooting corruption would require political will and continuous public clamor.
The new Senate president did not give an explicit reason for Escudero’s ouster. Escudero had been hounded by controversy after another: from his handling of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial to alleged anomalies in the national budget.
With Escudero’s ouster, his fellow majority officers were also removed.
Sen. Ping Lacson replaced Sen. Jinggoy Estrada as the Senate President Pro Tempore, which is akin to a vice president in the Upper Chamber.
Meanwhile, Zubiri also took over the Senate Majority Leadership from Sen. Joel Villanueva, vindicating himself after his ouster in 2024.
Other minority bloc members Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Sen. Loren Legarda made the appropriate motions to secure the three men into the top three spots.
Escudero said he harbored no ill will towards the change, saying he was proud of the work he did as Senate President.
“I hold no grudges, I hold no ill feelings,” Escudero said.
Sotto initially aimed to return to the Senate presidency during the opening of the 20th Congress, on the day of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address. However, he was defeated by Escudero.
Escudero’s senate presidency, however, did not last long as he replaced not more than two months later.
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