Senators claims no plans to remove Sotto

National

SENATE leaders dismissed rumors circulating online about a possible move to replace Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

Sotto said he has neither seen nor heard of any effort to remove him from the post and stressed that no senator has personally raised concerns about his leadership.

“I’m not seeing, I’m not hearing anything about dissatisfaction. And if you’ll ask me what I think can make my colleagues dissatisfied, well maybe it’s my being strict, strict about insertion in the budget,” Sotto said, as quoted in a Philstar report.

Speculation about a leadership change surfaced over the weekend following social media posts claiming that some senators were planning to shift alliances and challenge the current Senate leadership.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Panfilo Lacson dismissed the claims, describing them as recurring political rumors that surface from time to time in the chamber.

Several majority senators, including Loren Legarda and Erwin Tulfo, also denied the reports, saying there is no ongoing effort to unseat the Senate president.

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said discussions about leadership are common in the Senate, but any change would require the support of at least 13 senators, adding that no such numbers exist at present.

Meanwhile, the Senate confirmed changes in key administrative posts. Mark Llandro Mendoza was sworn in as the new Senate secretary, replacing Renato Bantug. Retired Maj. Gen. Edgardo Rene Samonte also took his oath as sergeant-at-arms, succeeding Mao Aplasca. Both appointments were nominated on the floor by Majority Leader Zubiri. (Adriane Josef E. Cabase, USJ-R Comm Intern)