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Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said he is forging an alliance with Senator Vicente Sotto III after Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said that 15 senators is backing him for the top Senate seat. Sotto said it is still not clear who between them will ultimately vie for the leadership.
Cayetano is the running mate of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte while Pimentel is the President of PDP-Laban, the political party of Duterte. The two allied senators are both gunning for the senate presidency but Pimentel earlier said that it will be a “friendly competition”
18 Senators
Sotto said on Monday, May 30, that their group consists of 18 senators, hinting that some of those who committed to Cayetano have committed to them as well.
“Ang pirma sa isang resolusyon, pirma ‘yon until approval. Eh kung nakapirma rin sa ibang resolusyon? (A signature on a resolution, that’s a signature until the approval. What if the person also signed another resolution?) It negates everything else,” Sotto said.
“Eighteen kami. Commitment? Madali ‘yung commitment (Commitment is easy). I would not be surprised if any of the other SP (Senate president) aspirants would say that they have commitments. everybody has commitment, it’s easy to commit, the importantt thing is when you vote,” Sotto added.
Pimentel, for his part, admitted he is interested in gunning for the top Senate post. After all, he said, it is his “duty and obligation” as PDP-Laban president to try to become the chamber leader.
“I might get their support if I can convince them on federalism. We are talking because we have to agree based on principles. We should be change-minded senators so we’re talking about federalism,” he said.
15 Senators
Cayetano claimed he has the commitment of 15 senators to be the next Senate president. But, so far, only one has signed the resolution declaring him the next chamber leader – senator-elect Manny Pacquiao, who, Sotto said, also committed to their group.
Pacquiao was the first one to sign Cayetano’s resolution on Sunday, May 29.
“There are about 15 that have committed, but, as I said, the voting is not today. But I believe, if personal commitment is given…. But, of course, there’s a lot of talking, a lot of persuasion,” Cayetano said in a chance interview with reporters on Monday, May 30
“Private ‘yon (resolution), binuo namin. Commitments are there, but the actual signatures will depend sa paalaman sa bawat grupo nila (on their own permissions from their groups). But then di ko naman plinano sa harap ng media yon magkapirmahan. It wasn’t really for the public,” he added.
Sen. Franklin Drilon is the incumbent senate president and will remain so if there’s no majority vote.
