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Marc Jayson Cayabyab - The Philippine Star
May 16, 2026 | 12:00am
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano raises his voice during a press briefing at the Senate on May 14, 2026 as he responds to questions on whether the gunfire incident inside the Senate could be considered an "attack."
Ryan Baldemor / The Philippine STAR
MANILA, Philippines — Is another leadership shake-up looming at the Senate as a result of the chaotic May 13 eruption of gunfire?
Members of the new majority seem to think so, as they hint that the former majority, now the minority bloc headed by Sen. Vicente Sotto III, is courting others to join them in unseating Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano.
Cayetano himself disclosed this at a Thursday press briefing, saying some of his colleagues were even being threatened.
“They (minority) are busy now trying to talk to our members to join them again,” Cayetano said in Filipino. “There are invitations to talk. There are threats. But they’ve been threatened before.”
He refused to clarify if he was referring to threats of prosecution.
Senators Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada and Francis Escudero – all from the majority bloc – are under investigation for their alleged role in the flood control corruption scandal.
Cayetano said he is confident he still has the support of the other members of the Senate majority: his sister Pia Cayetano, Bong Go, Loren Legarda, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Ronald dela Rosa and siblings Mark and Camille Villar.
The Sotto-led minority is composed of Senators Ping Lacson, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo, Sherwin Gatchalian and Lito Lapid.
Estrada said he was no longer surprised by moves to convince his majority colleagues to rejoin Sotto in reclaiming the leadership.
Legarda, the two Villars and even the Senate President’s sister Pia were members of the Sotto-led majority.
“For me, that is to be expected, because they didn’t think (former Senate president) Sotto would be unseated, and they are moving heaven and earth to replace Alan,” Estrada said in a phone interview with reporters yesterday.
“I’m not at liberty to divulge who are these personalities talking to us, talking to the majority to jump ship,” he added.
The Senate leadership is facing a crisis after Wednesday night’s shootout supposedly to protect Dela Rosa from National Bureau of Investigation agents out to serve his International Criminal Court arrest warrant as a co-perpetrator in crimes against humanity.
Just five days into his Senate presidency, Cayetano has defended his Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca’s move to fire warning shots that triggered the exchange of gunfire.
In a statement following the shootout, Sotto said he does not want to react to comments from the new leadership.
“Prudence dictates that I refrain from adding to the noise that has come out of the Senate from its new majority,” Sotto said.
Lacson said the shootout could have been prevented if the NBI and the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms properly communicated.
Speaking during a press briefing in Bacolod City, Hontiveros described the incident as a “historic low” for the country and pressed for the creation of an inter-agency body to conduct a full inquiry. — Bella Cariaso, Ghio Ong, Gilbert Bayoran
