Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III downplayed Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s recent attacks against his fellow lawmakers, comparing the public bickering to a television drama rather than a productive legislative discussion.
In a message sent to reporters via Viber on Friday, June 19, Sotto expressed a lack of interest in Cayetano’s statements, urging his colleagues in the legislature to shift their focus back to urgent national issues.
“Parang telenovela style. It’s not good for the country. Let’s move on to more urgent issues to help our countrymen,” Sotto said.
Sotto’s reaction followed an extended social media livestream where Cayetano launched sharp criticisms against multiple lawmakers, including Senators Raffy Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.
During the broadcast, Cayetano labeled Sotto and Senator Raffy Tulfo as “tuta” (lapdogs) of Malacañang, while claiming that Senator Erwin Tulfo was serving as a “tuta” for Lacson.
The term is heavily used in Philippine politics as a derogatory label for individuals acting as blind followers or puppets of someone else.
Cayetano also claimed that Lacson held compromising information regarding Senator Erwin Tulfo and alluded to alleged government contractors supposedly connected to him. However, he did not present any concrete evidence to back up his claims.
The rift comes after Lacson publicly praised Erwin Tulfo for signing a partial report by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigating alleged corruption in flood control projects, noting that Tulfo did so despite facing internal pressure from colleagues.
Shifting his focus to Lacson, Cayetano remarked that the former senator had escalated from a “tuta” to an “aso” (dog), utilizing the wordplay “aso-kaso” to challenge Lacson to file formal cases instead of making public statements.
Cayetano ended his lengthy broadcast against his fellow senators by reciting Jeremiah 29:11, a scripture passage he regularly uses at the end of his public addresses.