By Lane Afable, News Editor
Senate President Tito Sotto was ousted Monday, May 11, in a surprise leadership coup by senators aligned with detained former President Rodrigo Duterte, reshaping the upper chamber just as the House moved closer to a critical vote on the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano was elected to replace Sotto after 13 senators backed a leadership change.
Cayetano later manifested on the floor that 13 senators supported the move, including Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who had been absent from Senate sessions since November 2025.
Sen. Imee Marcos nominated Cayetano for the post, then earning 13 votes. Nine senators voted for Sotto, while two—Sens. JV Ejercito and Miguel Zubiri—chose to abstain.
Senators who voted in favor of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano taking the Senate presidency on May 11, 2026.
Sen. Camille Villar administered Cayetano’s oath, while his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, and wife, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, stood next to him.
The leadership shakeup came hours after Sen. Bong Go publicly denied rumors that there is a plan to block the convening of an impeachment court against Sara.
Impeachment backdrop
The leadership change unfolded as the House of Representatives prepared to vote on whether to transmit the Articles of Impeachment against Sara to the Senate for trial.
With Cayetano now leading the chamber, he is set to preside over a Senate that had previously declined to proceed with Sara’s impeachment trial.
In his first remarks as new Senate leader, Cayetano insisted that the change in leadership was not due to the impeachment or politics. He pointed to layered crises due to the Middle East conflict, threats of AI and hunger.
“Hindi ko kayo sinisisi kung ang sinasabi n’yo sa news na ang pagpalit sa leadership ay tungkol sa impeachment, hindi po.
The impeachment is enshrined in the Constitution,” Cayetano said. (I’m not blaming you for saying in the news that the change of leadership is because of impeachment, it’s not.)
He added, while drawing passages from the Bible: “The Bible says that the truth shall set us free. We want to be free from poverty. We want to be free from corruption. We want to be free from a government that is busy fighting its own people, of people fighting each other.”
He warned, however, against treating impeachment as a shortcut to remove political rivals. Duterte herself declared her intention to run for presidency in 2028.
