MANILA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Senate on Wednesday elected Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate president.
Thirteen senators attended a Senate special session and voted to install Gatchalian as the new head of the 24-member chamber, the minimum number required to elect a new Senate president. Gatchalian previously served as Mayor of Valenzuela City in Metro Manila and a House Representative, among other posts.
On June 3, 12 senators elected Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore and said Alan Peter Cayetano, who assumed the Senate presidency on May 11, had vacated the position. On the same day, Cayetano said he remained in the post and that 13 senators were needed to conduct the business of electing or removing Senate officers.
However, during the special session, Senator Joel Villanueva, who had previously backed Cayetano, turned up to support Gatchalian's bloc. On Tuesday, Cayetano said he realized the arithmetic had changed and he might step down from the Senate presidency after a conversation with Villanueva.
The Senate currently has only 22 sitting members. Senator Jinggoy Estrada surrendered to the police earlier this month, and the anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan, ordered his suspension from office for 90 days on Tuesday over his graft case. Senator Ronald Dela Rosa is a fugitive wanted by the International Criminal Court, with his whereabouts unknown. ■
