MANILA, Philippines – The Senate is facing a critical question on Monday: Will there be another leadership change or will the chamber convene directly as an impeachment court that will try Vice President Sara Duterte?
The uncertainty comes amid reports of an alleged ouster plot, which Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano himself raised last Thursday, just four days after his allies stole the leadership from Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III through a 13-9-2 vote.
“There’s an invitation to talk. There’s intimidation, but they were already scared anyway,” Cayetano said in a press conference.
Cayetano’s ascension to the Senate presidency on May 11 was backed by 13 senators, including his predecessor, Sotto. and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who resurfaced after a six-month long absence from the chamber.
Dela Rosa’s dramatic entrance was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV), which showed him running away from agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) armed with a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The arrest order stemmed from the crimes against humanity case filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte before the ICC, in which dela Rosa was tagged as co-perpetrator being the chief implementor of the bloody drug war during his stint as police chief.
With dela Rosa in the Senate, Sotto lost its leadership to Cayetano with a vote of 13-9-2. Under the new leadership, the chamber placed dela Rosa under its protective custody.