SEN. Vicente Sotto III on Monday took his oath as the new Senate president after 15 senators voted to oust Sen. Francis Escudero as their leader.

It was Escudero who administered Sotto’s oath of office, which was witnessed by his children.

Sotto’s fellow members in the minority bloc, namely Sens. Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, and Juan Miguel Zubiri, joined him at the podium.

They will join Sotto in the majority group. Lacson and Zubiri were also elected as Senate president pro tempore and majority leader, respectively.

“You have gifted me the honor of being your Senate President the second time around. To reiterate my statement from my previous election, I did not become your superior; I am simply a presider of your session,” Sotto said.

“I am your listener, your adviser if you so desire, your enabler for anything within my power to do so. I am primus inter pares — first among equals,” Sotto said.

Escudero said he serves “at the pleasure of the majority and understands and respects the decision of the majority of my colleagues.”

“I hold no grudges. I hold no ill feelings,” Escudero said as he congratulated Sotto on his election as Senate chief.

Sotto to Lead Senate again as majority votes to oust Escudero

The change in Senate leadership led to a major shift in groupings. The once five-man minority bloc led by Sotto became members of the majority group, including 10 other senators who chose him to be the Senate chief.

A major reorganization in committee chairmanships will also take place in the coming days.

The majority group is now composed of Sens. Bam Aquino, Pia Cayetano, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Lito Lapid, Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo, Camille Villar, Mark Villar, Legarda, Zubiri, and Sotto.

Meanwhile, Escudero and eight others formed the new minority bloc namely Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano, Ronald dela Rosa, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robinhood Padilla, Joel Villanueva.

“We already know him to be a leader of great integrity, as exemplified by his time as vice mayor of Quezon City, as Senate majority leader, as minority leader, and of course as Senate president,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri also nominated Lacson as Senate pro tempore. “We need in the Senate leadership a man of courage, integrity, and loyalty—embodied best by no other than Sen. Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson,” he said.

Sotto to Lead Senate again as majority votes to oust Escudero

“As Senate president pro tempore, we trust that he will be instrumental in upholding the integrity of the Senate and fostering a stronger environment of trust in all of our public institutions,” Zubiri added., This news data comes from:http://prsoie.xs888999.com

Malacañang on Monday said it respects the decision of the Senate to change its leadership.

In an interview with the Philippine media delegation at the sidelines of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Cambodia, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro maintained that the chief executive will not meddle in the affairs of the Senate.

“He cannot interfere with what the senators want, who they want to lead there. That is their choice, it is their choice. So, whoever the senators choose as their leader or president, the President will support that,” Castro said in Filipino.

WITH KRISTINA MARALIT