Less than a month after the change in Senate leadership that saw Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III take over from former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, questions are now being raised about another possible shake-up in the upper chamber.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito admitted that at one point, five senators considered leaving the majority bloc led by Sotto to form an “independent bloc.”
“It’s not only me, around 5 of us thought of being independent,” Ejercito said in a message sent to ABS-CBN News.
Had the group decided to join the minority bloc led by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, which already has nine members, their numbers would have been enough to trigger another leadership change and potentially unseat Sotto. However, Ejercito was quick to clarify that there is no such move in play.
“There is no coup or move for a leadership change also,” he stressed.
According to Ejercito, his frustration stemmed from the direction of the Senate leadership, particularly in the investigation by the Senate Committee on Accountability, Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon Committee) into questionable flood control projects. He said the probe seemed to divert blame toward senators instead of focusing on those truly accountable.
“For me, the focus should be sa real culprits ng modus, mukhang nawawala doon,” Ejercito lamented.
It will be recalled that Ejercito earlier admitted in an interview with DZRH that he and other senators had some “ill feelings” toward Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, a key ally of Sotto and his former running mate in the 2022 national elections.
This came after Lacson revealed that nearly all senators in the 19th Congress had budget insertions amounting to roughly ₱100 billion. Lacson later clarified, however, that these were not illegal and were part of the normal budget deliberation process.