Pimentel: No hard feelings on leadership change

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III does not harbor any ill will toward his colleagues in the majority bloc who called for his replacement as leader of the chamber.

Pimentel, who stressed he has no intention of clinging to his post, is expected to be succeeded by Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III this week in a move senators in the bloc have repeatedly stressed was not a coup.

“No issue at all with me. Change will happen with my happy blessings. Change is coming soon,” Pimentel told reporters in a text message.

When asked whether he was hurt by the resolution signed by 15 out of 17 members of the majority bloc seeking to elect Sotto as Senate president, he said in Filipino: “Of course none. That’s life, we must be open to changes all the time.”

He also said he was open to any committee chairmanship that the majority bloc or Sotto will assign to him after he steps down.

“I have missed committee work the past year and nine months,” he said.

Pimentel, Sotto and the rest of the majority bloc are expected to hold a closed-door caucus today to settle any lingering issues, details of the change in leadership and possible changes in the committee chairmanships.

Other senators, like Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, prefer that Pimentel and Sotto just meet so there would be no hurt feelings when other senators talk about their previous issues with the Senate President.

“SP Koko (Pimentel) did not commit any major offense against us but we also have our reasons,” Ejercito, who was among those who signed the resolution, said.

He said it would also be better if the Senate is not headed by a senator seeking reelection so the chamber’s legislative agenda will not be sidelined. Pimentel is seeking reelection next year.

Talks of Sotto replacing Pimentel have been going the rounds in the Senate in the past several months owing to their supposed term-sharing agreement forged at the start of the 17th Congress in 2016.

Some of the senators in the majority and minority blocs earlier said Pimentel was “too nice” that he failed to protect the Senate from criticism, like that coming from Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, his party-mate in the PDP-Laban.

Others complained that Pimentel failed to protect some of their political interests, including reelectionist senators allied with President Duterte, when Alvarez excluded them from the initial list of PDP-Laban senatorial candidates in the elections next year.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said while his bloc has no role in the change in leadership, he expects the chamber to be more “assertive” under Sotto.