Senator Alan Peter Cayetano Courtesy: (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
SENATOR Alan Peter Cayetano no longer holds the title of Senate President on the upper chamber’s official website, following a major leadership shake‑up last week.
Instead, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is now officially listed as Senate President Pro Tempore — the position that effectively makes him the acting head of the Senate under current chamber rules. This update marks a clear institutional recognition of the changes made within the Senate’s leadership structure, reflecting the new majority’s actions taken just days ago.
The shift took place on June 3, when the newly formed Senate majority voted to declare all leadership seats vacant. The decision came on the third consecutive day that Cayetano and his allies were absent from the plenary session, a move they said was meant to protest what they viewed as threats to the Senate’s independence.
Since then, Cayetano has repeatedly rejected the legitimacy of the new leadership, describing it as “illegitimate” and insisting that he remains the rightful Senate President. His camp has even proposed an interim administrative setup as a possible compromise to resolve the deadlock, though this has yet to gain traction.
Despite Cayetano’s objections, both the Executive branch and the House of Representatives have formally recognized the new leadership under Gatchalian. In a recent notice regarding coordination for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address, the invitation was addressed to Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr., who serves under the Gatchalian‑led bloc. This direct communication from Malacañang confirms that the administration will only transact with the leadership it acknowledges, effectively sidelining Cayetano’s faction in official government matters.
The House of Representatives has likewise signaled its recognition of the change in leadership through procedural actions. The House prosecution team handling the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte recently submitted its formal response to the Vice President’s answer to the articles of impeachment — and filed it with Secretary Bantug, not with any officer from Cayetano’s group. These developments solidify the new leadership’s standing, as key government institutions align their official transactions with the Senate’s updated organizational structure.
