What now, Tito Sotto?

By Herbert Vego

NEWLY-MINTED Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, to my mind, is worried over another leadership change that might enable his predecessor, Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto, to regain the Senate presidency.

For the record, it would make him the shortest-serving Senate head, since it has only been one week since May 11 when he unseated Sotto in a coup where the thinnest majority of 13 out of 24 senators voted for him.

Yesterday, however, the grapevine pointed to Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan as the most likely alternative with the backing of President Ferdinand Matcos Jr.

Anyway, Sotto called his ouster a “blessing in disguise” that would free him from the intense pressure of assuming the role of presiding officer during the looming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Over coffee at Hotel del Rio, my elementary-school classmate Jose “Joe” Escartin and I talked about that ouster in a positive light; it may push Sotto to a higher niche.

Sotto no longer has to constantly balance competing interests. He can now rebuild his identity as an independent national statesman.

Sotto’s calm and non-confrontational image may endear him among Filipinos who are weary of excessive political conflict and power struggles.

Is Sotto positioning himself for a strategic “Third Force”?

Joe thinks so, as the political environment today is slowly reshaping the conditions for such a movement to emerge. On one side is the administration bloc struggling with governance pressures, economic anxieties, and internal succession politics toward 2028. On the other is the continuing Duterte-Marcos polarization that increasingly forces politicians and voters into rigid camps.

Between these two poles lies a growing constituency of Filipinos, business groups, local leaders, professionals, youth, and civil society sectors.

Because of his long legislative experience – starting as vice mayor of Quezon City in 1988 — Sotto has proven himself capable of bridging different political groups without being fully identified with any single ideological bloc.

Sotto may thus reposition himself as a political elder capable of shepherding a broader national coalition leading to a viable national alternative for 2028.

Unlike younger politicians still consumed by ambition, Sotto projects the image of a leader shaped by decades of experience in governance.

Now 77 years old, Tito Sen remains physically active, mentally sharp, and capable of enduring the demands of a higher office in 2028.

And so, he might have erred when he said he was looking forward to political retirement.

-oOo-

MABILOG RETURNING TO POLITICS?

FIVE days ago (May 13), former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog took his oath of office as undersecretary for public safety of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Is he reinvigorating his political career which has been dormant since August 2017 – nine years ago — when he flew out of the country for a self-imposed exile in the United States after then-President Rodrigo Duterte accused him of being a narco-politician and publicly threatened his life. He was in his last term as Iloilo City mayor.

Jed, now 60, used to say that he would stop politicking at 50. But then, only fools do not change their minds.

We have heard it said, “Once a politician, always a politician.”

The first time I interviewed him in 2004, Jed had just won his first election as a member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod under the ticket of re-electionist Mayor Jerry P. Treñas.

He ran and won for vice-mayor in 2007, for mayor in 2010, in 2013 and again in 2016.

Will he be running again, this time for congressman, in 2028?

Say mo, mi amigo Migz?