Sotto said the talks with Cayetano, the defeated running mate of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, collapsed because he had been imposing many conditions and dictating many things - and in particular the chairmanship of the Senate committees.


Sotto said he and Senator Gringo Honasan earlier met with Cayetano, who at that time had the support of four senators. He said during the Kapihan sa Senado:


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"Pero noong mag-usap kami meron na kaagad syang sinasabi na position na dapat si ganito si ganyan, at meron din syang sinasabi na itong position na ito hindi pwede kay ganyan, hindi pwede kay ganun. Without naming names, ganun yung dating nya.” 


"When I went back to the group to tell them about what we talked about, they were not excited about it, they were not happy about that kind of situation so we decided to explore other possibilities, invite other members of the incoming Senate to join the group of nine and were able to invite Koko Pimentel."

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As a result, they opted to pick Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, a party mate of Duterte at the PDP-Laban, to be the next Senate president to succeed Franklin Drilon.



Sotto and Drilon have stood firm that Pimentel will be the next Senate president amid the reports Cayetano has been "operating" to grab the Senate leadership from Pimentel. They stress that the Senate presidency has been sealed for Pimentel. Pimentel has said if Cayetano wants the Senate presidency, he should not go to Davao because the position is not determined in Davao. He should talk to his fellow senators instead.


"Nobody else can elect the SP except the senators", said Pimentel, the president of PDP-Laban where Duterte is chairman.


Asked if he believed Duterte would call the senators to convince them to vote for Cayetano, Sotto replied: 

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"I don't know if the President will do that and if that will work, because if you want to be SP you have to campaign among your fellow senators."

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Duterte had earlier declared he would not meddle in the fight for the Senate leadership. He asked Pimentel and Cayetano to settle the issue between themselves.



Sources: Various news media outlets

Sotto on Cayetano's failed attempt to grab Senate presidency