CONCEPCION, ROQUE PREPARE FOR PHILIPPINES' ASEAN 2026 HOSTING

Sen. Vicente Sotto III yesterday said he is "guilty as charged" if his colleagues in the 20th Congress do not want him back as Senate President for being strict during his previous term.

- By MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

Sotto made the statement amid speculations that he might lose the Senate presidency contest to Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero due to some senators' concerns over his strict leadership style when he was Senate president from 2018 to 2022.

"Masyadong istrikto (Too strict)? Guilty as charged," he said.

Sotto explained that he was a strict Senate president in order to impose order and discipline in the upper chamber.

"I was brought up by the true statesmen of the 8th and 9th Congresses where decency and following rules and procedures abound," he said. "If that disqualifies me from the Senate leadership, then so be it!" Sotto added.

Sotto had earlier said he is ready to lead the minority if he loses to Escudero as Senate president.

"Still friends"

Amid the ongoing leadership race in the Senate, Sen. JV Ejercito said he remains friends with Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri despite supporting different candidates for Senate president.

"We were able to talk during a social gathering for the birthday of Toots Angara, and we said, whatever happens, that is just politics," Ejercito said of his last get-together with Zubiri for the birthday of the wife of another former Senate ally, now Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara.

"Our friendship is still there. It will never go away," he added.