Senators looking for leaders who will maintain independence

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May 18, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — As questions loom over the fate of Sen. Francis Escudero as Senate President, newly proclaimed senators are intent on finding a leader who will uphold the independence of the upper chamber.

Returning senator Panfilo Lacson said he is in talks with 13 incumbent and incoming senators, all aiming “to have an independent, credible and transparent Senate in the 20th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines.”

“We will emphasize these three, whoever we support,” Lacson told reporters at the sidelines of the proclamation of the 12 winning senators yesterday at the Manila Hotel Tent City.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who won a fresh six-year term, said Duterte-backed senators have yet to discuss who will be their bet for the Senate presidency.

He said he and Senators Robin Padilla, Bong Go, Imee Marcos, Camille Villar and Rodante Marcoleta “are not ambitious enough” to aspire to be the leader of the chamber.

“What we’re after from our bloc is to simply be treated fairly and not be ignored and treated like second class citizens. We should be on equal footing with everyone,” Dela Rosa said.

Escudero on Thursday said he leaves his fate to the majority of his colleagues, but underscored that holding on to his post is “not a question of hope,” but “a question of reality.”

Senator Vicente Sotto III told reporters on Friday that he is open to returning to the Senate presidency.

He said three or four senators are now discussing his potential return, but he would need to talk with Escudero, his partymate in the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

The vote for the next Senate president will take place when the 20th Congress opens on July 28, in time for President Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address.

Acquittal ‘possible’

Dela Rosa said the composition of senators of the 20th Congress appears to have improved Vice President Sara Duterte’s chances to be acquitted in her impeachment trial.

“It seems the Vice President’s chances to be acquitted is now higher. Let’s face it, we have to remain apolitical and neutral because we’ll be seated as senator judges, but then again the senators have their own political biases that we have to factor in,” he said.

Dela Rosa vowed to be a fair judge, saying he would be open to hearing about evidence to be presented against the Vice President.

“We will receive all information, all evidence. Who knows, if their evidence against the VP is very strong, maybe there would be pro-Sara senators who might change their minds,” he said.

Not necessarily a lawyer

Sotto has weighed in on the qualifications needed to preside over the Senate, arguing that the next Senate president need not be a lawyer, particularly in the context of an impeachment court.

“Because even if you’re a lawyer if you do not have knowledge on parliamentary rules and procedures, or the rules of court, you can’t hold a trial,” he told radio dwIZ.

He said the presiding officer has to be a master of the parliamentary rules and procedures and has good experience with the rules of court.

Sotto cited his own experience serving as an impeachment judge twice, including during the trial of the late chief justice Renato Corona in 2012.

Sotto said he also authored the chamber’s current impeachment rules. — Neil Jayson Servallos