IF plans won’t miscarry, the Senate would have a new Senate President this Monday. Alan Peter Cayetano, whose record in the Senate does not in any way appear unblemished or tainted with integrity or any other concept related to it, looms to be the next Senate head, replacing Senate President Tito Sotto, who has gained public acceptance and respect.
The change in Senate leadership would be the second in less than two months. Earlier, Sotto replaced Tricky Tsis in a quiet transition. Committee chairmanships also changed hands. Sen. Ping Lacson has replaced the unpopular Rodente Marcoleta as head of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
It’s an absolute mistake to think that the change in Senate leadership is due to Sotto’s failure to lead the legislative chamber to a rightful direction. He is actually doing his job. There is no basis to get fearful about the quality of his leadership.
The reason is that senators are bent on political survival. Senators are fearful that their names would be dragged in the ongoing congressional probe “in aid of legislation” in the flood control scam and the dreaded fund insertions in the national budget.
JV Ejercito, who is not exactly known for any serious advocacy in the Senate except to say that he is “the good one” when compared to his half brother, the equally unpopular Jinggoy Estrada, articulated that fear when he said that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe on the flood control is tantamount to burning the entire Senate.
JV, who is better known as “The Dumb One,” was reacting to Ping’s statement that all senators were involved in fund insertions. JV thought that the problem would include other senators. At the moment, four senators were named: Tricky Tsis, Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla, although he lost in the 2025 midterm elections.
JV said at least four senators from the current Majority Bloc were bent to go to the nine-man Minority Bloc to form a New Majority Bloc that would put Cayetano as the new Senate President. By weekend, the number rose to five, but their identities were not revealed.
Ping reacted to JV’s claim by resigning his post as Blue Ribbon Committee chair and admitting that his colleagues were not satisfied with the way he has handled its probe. There was an immediate report on who would replace him, although there were clear agitations that the new leadership would not bring back Marcoleta.
Although the impending leadership change does not involve political principles, its effects are not easily discernible. Two or three netizens said the pestering Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) sect could be behind it. Others said the resulting political dynamics would lead to the further isolation of the Senate from mainstream politics and the Filipino people.
There are now agitations to abolish the Senate, although this is not possible because the 1987 Constitution clearly states that Congress should have two chambers.
The plan initiative is unpopular but senators are likely to insist on it because they are not exactly models of moral rectitude. They personify moral decay. Besides, they are perceived as corrupt – even beyond salvation.
