Cayetano, now a “hot potato”

By Herbert Vego

IN slang lingo, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano may soon be dropped like a “hot potato” because of a national embarrassment that the Senate suffered following a coup that catapulted him to the top post.

The leadership coup saw Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano toppling predecessor Vicente “Tito” Sotto III by a 13-9 majority and two abstentions on May 11, 2026.

But that “national embarrassment” shown on TV worldwide focused on the political maneuvering tied to the looming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

As recorded on CCTV footage, the scene showed Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and his staff running up the Senate stairs to get rid of national Bureau of Investigation agents tasked to serve his arrest warrant.

Bato’s sudden appearance occurred while he had been in hiding for six months due to a rumored arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which could fly him to The Hague – there to join his former boss, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for “crimes against humanity”.

Inside the plenary hall, he claimed that National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents had attempted to arrest him.

He admitted that the reason for his presence was to deliver the crucial 13th vote for Cayetano.

The newly-elected SP Cayetano immediately prevented his arrest by asking the NBI to let the Senate provide “protective custody” to Bato, since they were expecting a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court (SC) on the ICC warrant.

The Bato stand-off climaxed in the evening of May 13 with gunshots fired within the Senate building and the subsequent disappearance of the senator.

We who were witnessing the event on TV could not see where the action was coming from.  All that we saw were elements from the Office of the Senate-at-Arms (OSAA), the Philippine National; Police (PNP) and the Philippine Marines lining the walls in full battle gear after OSAA head Mao Aplasca told the media that they were about to arrest an unidentified intruder.

Now we know that, contrary to the announcement of SP Cayetano, there was no “attack” on the Senate. As disclosed by Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Secretary Fredderick Vida, they had made a thorough and impartial probe into the staged gunfire incident.

It is more believable to say that the “attack” was a ruse meant to divert public attention and sneak fugitive Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa out of the Senate.

Bato left the Senate building at 2:30 a.m. of May 14 together with Senator Robin Padilla in the latter’s car.

Now that the Supreme Court (SC) has already denied Bato’s plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO), thus opening the legal way for his arrest to face trial at the ICC, the perpetrators of the zarzuela could find themselves accused of obstruction of justice punishable by imprisonment ranging from 4 years, 2 months, and 1 day to 6 years.

And so, there are now persistent rumors that because of the damage caused by the fake attack to the credibility of the Senate, and with Bato in hiding once again, it would only take one majority senator jumping over to the minority camp to unseat Alan Peter Cayetano.

The other day, Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed in a TV interview that they were considering Senator Win Gatchalian as Cayetano’s most acceptable replacement

This writer believes that Alan Peter Cayetano should resign the Senate presidency before he could be ousted.

Being also the concurrent presiding justice of the already convened Impeachment Court in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, he is not in a credible position to make impartial, evidence-based decisions strictly in accordance with the law.

Remember, it was Cayetano – a rabid follower of the Dutertes — who authored the motion in the Senate to remand the articles of impeachment back to the House of Representatives in 2025, which ended with a Supreme Court ruling aborting the trial due to “violation of due process”.