Senate President Vicente Sotto III: Sen-sational, Sen-sible 'VST'

When he walked into the room for our photo shoot one May afternoon at the Conrad Manila, then newly-elected Senator Vicente Sotto III, who was chosen Senate president in a lightning coup early this week by 15 senators, was clutching a paper cup of Starbucks coffee.

- JOANNE RAE M. RAMIREZ

When he walked into the room for our photo shoot one May afternoon at the Conrad Manila, then newly-elected Senator Vicente Sotto III, who was chosen Senate president in a lightning coup early this week by 15 senators, was clutching a paper cup of Starbucks coffee. Not his first cup for the day, and probably not his last, grinned the country's longest-serving senator since the restoration of the Senate in 1987 (five non-consecutive terms).

He was followed by an aide carrying a black garment bag with the initials "VST." I looked at him quizzically because VST & Co. played the OPM hits of my teenage years and my sisters and I always used to wonder what it meant: Vic, Spanky (Rigor, another member of the band) and Tito? Vic, Sotto, Tito? I finally, excitedly had the chance to ask him what those initials meant.

"Vicente Sotto the Third," he smiled. "My initials."

Like "VST," which was a puzzle to me, Tito Sotto was once a puzzle to me. What was he, really? A songwriter, TV host, actor, comedian, competitive bowling champ, or politician?

Apparently, he is all of the above, and good in all. Sen-sational because he excels in each of his undertakings. This Jack of All Trades is master of all he sets his mind to.

So far, Sotto, popularly known as "Tito Sen," has sponsored and authored more than a hundred laws, making him one of the most prolific senators.

"Perhaps it is only Sen. Vicente C. Sotto III among the present crop of senators who can seamlessly switch from one career to another—being an accomplished public servant, lawmaker, sportsman, and artist in his own right," is how the Senate's official website describes him.