Amid rumors of yet another leadership change, netizens on Facebook are claiming that Sen. Loren Legarda is now the Senate president, supposedly making her the first female to lead the legislative chamber. This is not true.
Published on Feb. 4 by political analyst Malou Tiquia on her official FB account, the post features a screenshot from the Senate plenary session on the same day Legarda was seen occupying the Senate president’s seat as she was presiding over the session. The caption reads:
“The first female Senate President. History was made today.”
Tiquia has since changed the caption, which now states:
“As of 1730H: The first female Senate President. History was made today.
As of 2038H: History fell by the wayside of a comedic skit!
This is a developing story.”
Later that day, at least three users circulated a clip from the Senate session where Majority Leader Migz Zubiri addressed Legarda “madame president” before she adjourned the session until 3 p.m. on Feb. 9. All three posts interpreted this as proof that Legarda has taken over the Senate presidency from Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Three other FB posts made the same claim, with one even congratulating Legarda for supposedly succeeding, while others were bidding farewell to Sotto.
This is false. As of Feb. 5, Sotto remains Senate president. Legarda clarified that she served only as presiding officer when the session resumed after over an hour-long break as rumors of a leadership coup flew thick.
In a chance interview, Sotto said the majority bloc had thwarted an attempt to wrestle the Senate presidency.
A Feb. 4 report claimed that Legarda was poised to replace Sotto after she reportedly secured the required 13 votes to topple Sotto. Another news outlet reported that at least 17 senators were expected to back her as new Senate president.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson disclosed on Feb 3 that the Senate presidency was offered to Legarda. But when efforts to entice the lady senator “failed,” the coup plotters claimed she volunteered to help them gather support, said Lacson.
Sotto likewise said the Senate leadership was offered to Legarda by members of the minority bloc but she declined it.
While Legarda did not become the first woman Senate president in Philippine history on Feb. 4, contrary to what the FB posts claimed, Sotto bared a plan to install her as the next leader of the chamber before the 20th Congress ends on June 30, 2028.
The inaccurate claims surfaced after Zubiri repeatedly addressed Legarda as “madame president,” fueling rumors of another leadership change reportedly as a consequence of the Blue Ribbon Committee report on its investigation into the flood control corruption scandal in which three minority senators are supposedly recommended to be charged in court with plunder, among other corruption-related offenses.
The post uploaded by Tiquia, which she later edited, has so far amassed 26,000 reactions; 2,800 comments; and 1,100 shares. Meanwhile, the videos with untrue claim posted by FB users Alona Sekiguchi (created on Dec. 17, 2014), Ser Romnick (July 29, 2011) and Lisa Bugash (Apr. 16, 2019) have collectively received 4,723 reactions; 446 comments; 239 shares; and 118,000 views as of writing.
