Chiz Escudero’s ouster — described by critics as a “forthwith” removal from the Senate presidency — surprised many on Monday, September 8. It came in stark contrast to Escudero’s measured handling of the archived impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Reelected Senate president just over a month ago, Escudero lost the leadership to veteran Senator Tito Sotto, who quietly secured the support of 15 senators to unseat him.

There was no media buzz in the days leading up to Sotto’s election. On the morning Escudero was ousted, the Senate blue ribbon committee was holding its third hearing on allegedly anomalous government flood control projects, which his top campaign donor had been linked to.

In an interview, Sotto said he believed Escudero was caught by surprise. He met with Escudero on Monday around 1:30 pm for the transition, roughly two hours before the ouster took place during the Senate’s regular session.

” I, together with my four colleagues, went to see him, and he was with Senator Joel Villanueva, and they were together, and we told him about the resolution. And I’m not sure if he was aware. Joel was definitely aware,” Sotto said in an interview with ANC’s HeadStart.

Behind the scences

Sotto said Escudero appeared to have learned about the leadership shake-up only an hour or a few hours before their meeting. “He was not aware of it the day before or the night before,” he added.

The newly-installed Senate president said his meeting with Escudero was very cordial — just like their previous ones — so he didn’t sense that the latter was aware of what was about to happen, or at least had knowledge that the ouster would happen on that same day. Sotto was accompanied by his four colleagues from their then-minority bloc: Senators Migz Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros, Ping Lacson, and Loren Legarda.

News of the ouster began circulating around 1:15 pm on Monday, emanating from unnamed sources. Rappler received confirmation from Villanueva at 1:48 pm, who said he was “sticking to [his] SP” and was “loyal as ever,” adding that Sotto had the numbers.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada, one of the nine senators who stood by Escudero, told Rappler on Tuesday, September 9, that he learned about the ouster only on Monday morning. He added that no one from Sotto’s camp had approached him.

Before the Senate session on Monday, Senator Imee Marcos said she was unaware of the ouster plot against Escudero, as no one had approached the Duterte allied senators — herself, Senators Bato dela Rosa, Robin Padilla, Bong Go, and Rodante Marcoleta.

The move appeared to be a deliberate strategy by the Sotto camp, targeting only senators they believed would support them. After all, Duterte-allied senators had been given key chairmanships in exchange for backing Escudero’s reelection as Senate president when the 20th Congress opened on July 28. However, they were stripped of these key panels on Tuesday.

Sotto said that it was his four allied senators from their then-minority bloc who initiated the move to install him as Senate president. In a radio interview, Lacson said they started gathering signatures on Friday, September 5, and they secured the needed support by Monday morning.

Senators’ link to contractors

On August 11, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. released a list of the top 15 contractors awarded a total of P100 billion worth of projects plagued by irregularities. Rappler reported that Escudero’s top campaign donor in 2022, Lawrence Lubiano — president of Centerways Construction and Development Incorporated — contributed P30 million to his campaign. Lubiano’s firm was among the 15 contractors named by Marcos, ranking seventh in the list.

Prior to that, in July, Escudero was implicated in alleged insertions of multi-billion peso allocations in the 2025 national budget, which he denounced as a “demolition job” orchestrated by the House of Representatives. His tenure as Senate president was marked by a strained relationship with the House, largely due to their differing positions on the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. (READ: Chiz Escudero and his dilly-dallying over impeachment)

Sotto said that the trigger for the ouster was the Senate’s tainted reputation, alluding to some senators’ ties to contractors. Critics have questioned the legitimacy of the Senate’s probe, wondering how they can effectively investigate themselves.

“This will be a good chance for some of our leaders in the Senate, or former leaders in the Senate, to face or look at the allegations being hurled against them without having the Senate in the fray, right?” Sotto said.

It made sense that Estrada wasn’t approached by Sotto’s camp because on Tuesday, he and Villanueva were implicated in a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks from flood control projects in Bulacan. Both denied the allegation, calling it malicious.

Estrada served as Senate president pro tempore and Villanueva as Senate majority leader under Escudero’s leadership.

A Rappler report also revealed ties of Senator Go to Sarah and Curlee Discaya, who have been the subject of congressional probes for weeks. Go reiterated that he has no involvement in his family’s business and that if any wrongdoing is found, the government should pursue legal action. (READ: Firm owned by Bong Go’s kin once worked with Discayas for Davao projects)

Sotto said his election as Senate president — a position he also held from 2018 to 2022 — was in response to a clamor from colleagues to “preserve the integrity of the Senate.”

President’s hand?

When asked whether the President had wanted him as Senate leader from the start, Sotto replied, “That’s possible.”

“Because even at the start, during the campaign period, if you monitored the campaign, the rallies, the President introduces everyone, one by one, endorses everyone, when it comes to me, he always mentions I was former SP and when I was SP, everything was calm, in order,” he said in his ANC interview.

Rappler sources claimed that Sotto was previously Marcos’ choice for the Senate presidency. This carries weight as Sotto ran under the administration ticket in the 2025 midterm elections.

The night after Sotto was elected, he announced that Lacson would replace Marcoleta as the blue ribbon committee chairman who would continue the Senate’s investigation into the flood control controversy.

Lacson, a veteran senator known for his exposés and thorough research, particularly on the misuse of public funds, said he will bring a “strict, no-nonsense, and receipt-based” approach to investigating the controversy. He intends to apply this method to the claims made by the Discaya couple linking certain lawmakers and officials to corruption.

With the House conducting its own probe into the flood control controversy, observers who followed the investigation of both chambers were quick to compare how each handled the issue.

At the start of the House’s first hearing, some members showed no hesitation in putting their own colleagues on the spot. Lawmakers debated whether to summon Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co, who has come under scrutiny for his ties to Sunwest and Hi-Tone — companies flagged by the President as among the top contractors for flood control projects in the country.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, the chamber took a more careful approach. Escudero’s top campaign donor, reportedly linked to questionable flood projects, was never questioned — apart from the standard introduction and oath-taking as a resource person.

With Lacson at the helm of the blue ribbon committee, will the public finally see a thorough probe into contractors’ links with senators? – Rappler.com