Tito Sotto Says Minority does not have Numbers to Change Leadership

Senate Pres. Tito Sotto Speaks on Rumored Leadership Change

TITO SOTTO – The Senate President claimed that the minority bloc allegedly does not have the numbers to oust him from the leadership.

Amid the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption in the government, both the Senate and the House of Representatives had a leadership change. Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez were both implicated in the corruption issue. Escudero is accused of alleged budget insertion.

Sen. Chiz Escudero denied the allegation of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Roberto Bernardo against him. Escudero even slammed former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and accused him of allegedly masterminding the allegations against the senators.

After Sen. Chiz Escudero was ousted from the Senate presidency, Sen. Tito Sotto who was leading the minority bloc in the Senate then assumed the chamber’s leaderships. However, currently, there are rumored attempts to out Sotto.

Senate Pres. Tito Sotto previously claimed that the rumored Senate leadership has not reached him. According to the veteran Senator, some of his colleagues might not like how strict he is when it comes to budget insertions.

Sotto also previously revealed the plan of the majority to make Sen. Loren Legarda the Senate president before the 20th Congress ends. The senators denied the “term-sharing” calls. However, based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Senate President claimed that Legarda allegedly does not have the votes to make her chief of the chamber.

Furthermore, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto also said that there are also not enough votes to oust him from the Senate presidency. He stressed that there must be at least 13 votes to unseat a leader and the support must be in writing.

“That’s inaccurate. As a matter of fact, false. Because as early as the roll call, alam na namin na walang motion or walang numero to unseat the leadership. To unseat the leader, you must have 13 votes. The 13 votes, you must have it in writing. In fact, hindi pwedeng commitment na salita lang,” Sotto claimed.

Based on the report, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto stressed that moving to change the leadership without written commitments is a “dangerous move” and it is risky to attract embarrassment. He also claimed that the minority does not have the numbers to oust him.

“Kasi nga, we found out, the majority found out that they do not have the, the minority does not have the numbers to change the leadership,” the Senate President said.