New Senate alliances

The incoming 20th Congress augurs well with the return of veteran senators. Specifically, their track record of performance, not to mention their grit, integrity and diligence in legislative work got them re-elected in the last May 12 Senate race. One of them, in fact, is being egged on by former senators in the previous Congresses to take on again the leadership in the Upper Chamber.

Comebacking Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is an early favorite for the coveted role of Senate president in the next Congress. Sotto was twice elected Senate president during the second half of the 17th Congress and re-elected Senate chief during the 18th Congress over the period May 22, 2018 to June 30, 2022.

Incumbent Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has yet to make any official declaration of his intention. As a continuing body, the sitting Senate President traditionally opens the maiden session of the new Congress, when they elect their new set of leaders.

After winning her re-election bid, presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos announced last week her intention to vie for the Senate presidency. Thus, there may be a three-way contest for the next Senate chief. A senator vying to lead the 24-man Upper Chamber needs at least 12-1 majority vote to become Senate president.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Sotto admitted his keen interest to vie for the Senate leadership despite the “new mix of alliances” in the 20th Congress. Sotto ran and won as one of the 12-man Senate ticket of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) under the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas.

As the president of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Sotto joined the administration-backed Alyansa senatorial candidates along with fellow partymates, namely, re-electionists Senators Pia Cayetano and Lito Lapid. Actually, Escudero is also a card-bearing NPC member, along with incumbent Senators (Loren Legarda,) Sherwin Gatchalian, and JV Ejercito, Sotto added. Thus, the NPC senators constitute a large bloc.

One of the country’s oldest political party, the Nacionalista Party (NP), is another big bloc emerging in the next Congress. Aside from Senator Imee, former House deputy speaker, Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar, also won under the Alyansa Senate ticket. She and brother, incumbent Sen. Mark Villar, belong to the NP.

Initially part of the Alyansa ticket, Senator Imee like her brother PBBM belong to the NP. However, she decided to run instead as an “independent” candidate last March following the arrest and transfer to The Hague for detention of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Then senator, BBM has been NP member since 2009. He turned “independent” when he threw his hat into the ring for the May 2022 presidential elections. He subsequently joined and was made chairman of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), which is supposedly the party in power but three of its senatorial bets lost. They included re-electionist Sen. Francis “Tol” Tolentino, former Interior secretary Benhur Abalos and ex-senator Manny Pacquiao.

A third bloc of the incoming Senate belongs to the re-electionist Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. Go and Dela Rosa ran and won under the “Duter10” ticket and landed No. 1 and No. 3, respectively in the last elections. Completing the Duterte bloc at the incoming Senate is Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who was personally endorsed by ex-president Duterte during the campaign.

In a recent interview, Senator Go revealed that contenders to become the new Senate president have sounded them out for their support. Without identifying who, the former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) of ex-president Duterte hinted their bloc has decided to vote as one for whoever they finally choose.

But the Senate has 24 “independent republics,” Sotto stressed.

In terms of being independent lawmakers, the senators decide and vote beyond partisan lines. Thus, the 76-year-old Sotto declined to make a headcount of the possible number of senators who will support his bid.

Now entering his fifth term as senator, Sotto counts upon his vast experience in the lawmaking body and relationships built through the years he served in various capacities in the Upper Chamber. The comedian-turned-politician rose through the ranks, from ordinary senator when he first got elected in May 1990 to Senate majority leader to Senate pro tempore and then Senate president.

Among the new set of 12 senators who won in the last elections are returning senators Bam Aquino (Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino) and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan (Liberal Party). Both Aquino and Pangilinan worked with Sotto in their past Senate stints. In the case of Pangilinan, he is married to Sotto’s goddaughter, actress-singer Sharon Cuneta. Just saying.

There are also Sotto’s fellow Alyansa winners in the Senate race, returning senator Panfilo Lacson (Independent) and former Marcos-Social Welfare secretary, ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo.

“If I am not elected by my peers and they leave me in the cold,” Sotto reiterated his option to just seek the chairmanship of the Senate ethics committee.

During the campaign in the just concluded elections, Sotto promised he will not get his salary as senator. According to him, senators are classified under the present Salary Grade 31, or a take-home pay of P300,000 a month. He will instead set it aside for a scholarship fund for needy but deserving students from elementary all the way to college.

He vowed to course it through his existing E-BEST, or Eat Bulaga’s Excellent Student scholarship award. It is an educational support program funded by the TVJ Productions, which Sotto put up along with his younger brother Vic and fellow comedian Joey de Leon, who are behind the longest running popular noontime TV show “Eat Bulaga.”

In the meantime, Sotto disclosed, he is currently working to refile bills he authored but failed to get through the past Congresses. And new bills as well like a proposed Anti-Fake News that will mandate “takedown” by social media platforms to stop disinformation from going viral online, he added.

By noon of June 30, Sotto will be back, not at Eat Bulaga but at the Senate for his next six years in office.