MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he and Sen. Vicente Sotto III were hurt by the move of their "longtime" ally, Sen. Loren Legarda, to abandon them after she supported the coup against Sotto.
Legarda, together with Sens. Pia Cayetano and siblings Camille Villar and Mark Villar, switched sides and supported the minority bloc's effort to install Alan Peter Cayetano as Sotto's replacement.
"My sentiment and I think my colleagues in the former majority share this, it is sad that Senator Legarda, one of our originals in the former majority, did not inform us of her decision," Lacson said.
He said they have no issues with Cayetano and the Villar siblings leaving them. It was a different case with Legarda, being a close ally.
"I am not taking anything away from her decision to join Senator Cayetano but we just hoped she would at least have told us, instead of surprising us," he added.
Lacson said that while they accepted "political reality," he felt sad that Legarda, one of the original members of the Sotto-led minority, and later majority, opted to join the new majority without informing them first.
He said that when Sens. JV Ejercito and Sherwin Gatchalian opted to join them to form the majority months after the 2025 midterm elections, they went to then Senate president Francis Escudero first to formally inform him of their decision.
Lacson noted that tradition dictates that once a bloc secures at least 13 senators, its members approach the sitting Senate president at noon and formally inform him/her that they have the numbers to effect a leadership change.
The sitting Senate president would then ensure a smooth transition by voluntarily stepping down at the start of the session, and nominate his/her would-be replacement. The outgoing and incoming Senate presidents would even vote for each other.
Lacson said he understood Alan's move not to approach Sotto due to "security" reasons as they had to secure Dela Rosa, who is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.