Why did the attempted Senate coup fail?

It is confirmed that the nine members of the Senate minority did attempt to recruit four or five in the majority to join them in their conspiracy to oust Senate President Tito Sotto. But they miscalculated and bungled it. But there will always be another attempt at another time.

Just to put things in accurate perspectives, the following constitute the Senate majority of 15 as of now: Senate President Tito Sotto, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, Majority Leader Migz Zubiri, First Deputy Majority Leader Risa Hontiveros, Second Majority Leader JV Ejercito, and the following senators: Loren Legarda, Bam Aquino, Pia Cayetano, Win Gatchalian, Lito Lapid, Kiko Pangilinan, Raffy Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, Mark Villar, and Camille Villar.

On the other hand, the following are the nine members of the minority: Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, First Assistant Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta, Second Assistant Minority Leader Joel Villanueva, and the following as members: Chiz Escudero, Imee Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada, Robin Padilla, Bong Go, and Bato de la Rosa.

My small birds inside confirmed to me that the minority had a very brilliant plan concocted allegedly by the triumvirate of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, namely Chiz Escudero, Rodante Marcoleta, and Alan Peter Cayetano. The plan was to dangle the Senate presidency to Loren Legarda and to offer juicy committees to Pia Cayetano, Mark Villar, Camille Villar, and Lito Lapid. That could have been a perfect storm waiting to blow in the face of the majority.

That could have meant five from the majority joining the nine of the minority. The proposed new majority would have 14 members and the Sotto-Lacson-Zubiri triad would only have 10 left. Pia Cayetano was seen as a low-hanging fruit because her own brother is the leader of the minority. The Villars have an axe to grind against the administration because of the multiple SEC inquiries into their business empire, plus the possible inclusion of Marc Villar in the Ombudsman's next batch of indictees.

But the elephant in the room was Loren Legarda who flatly refused to betray her close alliance with Tito Sen. The gentle lady from Antique is made of sterner stuff. She could not be seduced by the thought of making history as the first woman to occupy the number three position in the Philippine government. Loren has problems defending her son Leandro Leviste. Loren is now a seasoned politician. She looks at the big picture and weighs her options adroitly.

If she goes into the Cayetano-Escudero-Marcoleta axis and joins the opposition, the Palace may unleash "slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes" against her neophyte son. Besides, it seems that the values of Senator Loren are incompatible with the Dutertes, especially those of Sara Duterte. Above all, Loren belonged to the old "Macho Bloc" composed of Tito Sotto, Ping Lacson and Migz Zubiri, and former senator Gringo Honasan.

I have a number of former Law students who are working in the Palace, in the House, in the Senate, and in the Supreme Court. I am well-informed about movements overt or covert. I know that the Cayetano-Escudero-Marcoleta triad will never stop until the Duterte group captures the Senate leadership. This is a prelude to capturing the Palace. If they do, China will win the West Philippine Sea stand-off and there will be no way that Inday Sara can be impeached.

Everything is connected like a labyrinth of jigsaw puzzles. Because of my intelligence network, I have the strength of what Ernie Baron and Kuya Kim used to say: Knowledge is power.