A YouTube video claims that Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has been elected Senate president, replacing Sen. Chiz Escudero. This is false. Escudero was reelected to the position when the 20th Congress convened on July 28.
Uploaded on the same day that the Senate opened its first regular session, the video’s headline read:
“ESCUDERO HINDI BINUTO! NIYANIG ANG SENADO! SOTTO AS SENATE PRESIDENT! PALIT PWESTO NA KAKAPASOK LANG.”
(Escudero not voted! Shocked the Senate! Sotto as Senate President! Exchanged positions just in).
Escudero, who was first elected Senate president in 2024, retained his position with 19 out of 24 fellow senators voting for him. Sotto, who announced his bid for the Senate presidency after winning the 2025 midterm polls, lost after receiving only five votes.
A former Senate president from 2018 to 2022, Sotto is now the minority leader. By tradition, the minority fields a candidate for Senate president. Upon losing the contest, that candidate becomes the monitory leader.
The video was a clickbait. It showed clips of Sens. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Loren Legarda nominating Sotto for the Senate presidency. It then showed the entire Senate opening session including Escudero’s win with 19 votes.
Uploaded by YouTube channel BOSS BALITA TV, the video has so far received 19,064 views.
