SOTTO OUT, CAYETANO IN AS SENATE PRESIDENT

SENATOR  Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday was elected Senate President replacing Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

Thirteen senators voted in favor of the motion to change the Chamber’s leadership,  nine voted against it while two abstained.

The election of the new Senate leader came after a majority of senators voted to declare all leadership positions in the Chamber vacant and supported a leadership change,

Cayetano was nominated by Sen. Imee Marcos. Following no objection from other senators, Sen. Joel Villanueva moved to close the nomination.

Among those who voted in favor of Cayetano was his sister Sen. Pia Cayetano and  Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa,   Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Bong Go, Jinggoy Estrada, Loren Legarda, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Joel Villanueva, Mark Villar, Camille Villar and Sotto.

Those who voted to retain Sotto as Senate President were Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Sherwin Gatchalian, Lito Lapid, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo,  and Alan Peter Cayetano.

By tradition, candidates do not vote for themselves.

Meanwhile, Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and JV Ejercito abstained.

Senator Loren Legarda was reinstalled as Senate President Pro Tempore.

The leadership change took effect as the House of Representatives were moving to vote on the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.