Tito In, Chiz Out: How Escudero Got Booted as Senate President, and What's in Store for Sotto

Think of it as an old new Senate.

Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto, who won a fresh six-year mandate during the midterms elections earlier this year, is returning to his former seat as Senate President, replacing Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero, who was ousted on Monday (September 8).

With rumors of a coup swirling since last year, months before the composition of the current 20th Congress, we now have to ask how this affects the dynamics within the Upper Chamber and the administration’s legislative priorities.

During Monday’s plenary session after the rumor mill lit up last week about the aforementioned coup, Senator and former Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri made a motion to declare the top Senate position vacant, which Escudero greenlit.

Zubiri himself was ousted out of the Senate's top post last year, with Escudero acceeding to the position.

Senator Zubiri nominated the returning Tito Sotto to become Senate chief, while fellow returning Senator Ping Lacson was elected the new Senate President Pro Tempore, replacing Jinggoy Estrada.

Zubiri was also named the new Senate Majority Floor Leader despite all of the new members of the Senate’s leadership being part of the minority bloc.

“Having had the honor of working alongside him as his Majority Leader during the 17th and 18th Congress, I witnessed firsthand his peerless leadership and work ethic, and I can say with conviction that he has been nothing short of a reliable and trustworthy leader,” Zubiri said, referring to Sotto.

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Sotto takes his oath as Senate President

Sotto, who last held the post in 2022,  zeroed in on corruption in his acceptance speech and promised to deliver accountability.

“Corruption is now perceived by our people to be in the whole of government,” he said in his speech following his election as Senate President. “But with the political will of those in position and together with the vigilance and clamor from the public, we can fight this and bring transparency and true accountability that our nation deserves.”

On his way out, Escudero stressed that there were no ill feelings nor grudges in Sotto’s election and hoped that anti-corruption efforts and the pursuit of accountability would continue under the returning leader.

“I am proud of what the Senate has accomplished together, and I trust that the spirit of transparency and courage that have been displayed by this Chamber will be sustained,” he said.

Escudero's ouster comes amid rumors simmering on the reported dissatisfaction with his leadership after the archiving of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment case, his alleged link to contractors of anomalous flood control projects, and his rejection of proposals for charter change.

Zubiri, meanwhile, lost the Senate's top post amid his rejection of a proposal to amend the 1987 Constitution via a People’s initiative and his approval of a Senate probe on a leaked document naming President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in alist of suspected drug users monitored by state agencies.

“I fought the good fight. If I have ruffled some feathers in doing so, if I have upset the powers that be, then so be it,” Zubiri said on his way out last year.

The leadership change also comes before a backdrop of an ongoing feud between the Dutertes and Marcoses and their allies within Congress. Lawmakers are also in the midst of scrutinizing proposals for individual budget plans for government agencies and state programs, which are often criticized for mismanagement and corruption.

“I am sensing that Senate President Sotto will be tested for his stands and political disposition at the start of the 20th Congress, where he was just competing for the Senate President position with then-Senate President Escudero,” Arjan Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, told Esquire Philippines in an interview. “He (Sotto) must lead the Senate institution in determining the next move on the appeal of the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the impeachment, and knowing what steps to take in investigating the involvement of lawmakers (especially his colleagues) in the flood control mess.”

The country’s highest court earlier ruled that the articles of impeachment against the Vice is unconstitutional, saying lawmakers failed to afford the official due process.

Based on the Supreme Court decision published on July 25, the tribunal’s associate justices cited a provision in the 1987 Constitution that bars the filing of multiple impeachment complaints against an incumbent official in the same year.

Legislators would have to wait until February next year to file another impeachment case against the daughter of the former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte had four impeachment complaints against her with only the last one leading to her impeachment at the House. She had been impeached after threatening the life of President Marcos and his family amid her ongoing feud with the Marcos clan even after  the duo won landslide victories in the 2022 national elections.

Including Duterte, five other top Philippine officials have been impeached, with only Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona eventually being convicted.

“In contrast to entrenched dynasties, the dynasties in the Philippines are contestable,” Leonardo Lanzona, an economics professor also at Ateneo, said in an online exchange. “The dynastic nature itself represents a fundamental departure from democratic ideals of equal opportunity and merit-based leadership.”

Lanzona added that the change in leadership won’t really change much in terms of policy direction since the dynastic background of Sotto would still lead to a tight grip on power or the “same banana.”

In his acceptance speech, Sotto said that under his leadership, his administration appealed to then President Rodrigo Duterte to veto illegal budget realignments amounting to P75 billion in the 2019 national spending plan.

“If the emerging coalition is once again veering towards the Marcoses (and to some extent the opposition), it is a better position to be in for at least the short-term budget cycle: the presidential bandwagon still seems unbroken despite the relative weakness of Mr. Marcos Jr,” said Hansley Juliano, who teaches political science at Ateneo. “While it is easy to assume this would be a pivot back against the Dutertes at large, I am still skeptical how much of this is solely policy driven, and how much of it is just saving face for the Senate to force them to disassociate with now-ex Senate President Escudero (who is implicated in the flooding projects scandals).”

Sotto had been the longest-serving Philippine senator in history and had authored the controversial Anti-Terorrism Act of 2020 and has support the government's campaign against illegal drugs via a "holistic approach."

Escudero had justified arhiciving the impeachment complaint vs. Duterte insiting that the Senate is not a "playground" to go after political opponents.

Under his Senate presidency, the Senate had passed crucial bills such as a bill and now law imposing a 12 percent value-added tax on digital transactions, a new mining tax regime, the Self Reliant Defense Posture Act, the CREATE More Act, among other economic measures.

The Senate had also ratified Tokyo and Manila's Reciprocal Access Agreement, which would pave the way for the easier entry of defense and military equipment for military drills and disaster risk response on each other’s soil.