MANILA, Philippines — Voting 13-9-2, the senators elected Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as the new Senate president, replacing Sen. Vicente Sotto III.
Those who voted for Alan Cayetano included Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, who suddenly appeared in the Senate after five months of being absent.
Aside from Dela Rosa, the eight senators in the minority group who voted for Alan Cayetano were Francis Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robinhood Padilla, and Joel Villanueva.
The four members of the then majority bloc were the "swing votes" and helped Cayetano secure the Senate presidency. They were Senators Loren Legarda, Pia Cayetano, and siblings Camille and Mark Villar.
Senators JV Ejercito and Migz Zubiri abstained.
The eight senators who voted for Sotto were Bam Aquino, Win Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Lito Lapid, Francis Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, and Raffy Tulfo.
At the start of the session, Alan Cayetano said his group has secured 13 votes to effect leadership change. Villanueva moved to declare all seats vacant.
It was Marcos who nominated Alan Cayetano to replace Sotto while Lacson nominated Sotto.
