A weeks-long leadership battle inside the Philippine Senate came to an end Wednesday when a Duterte-aligned senator was ousted from the chamber’s top position — just as the body prepares to put the former president’s daughter on trial.
Sherwin Gatchalian, an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., secured the Senate presidency after winning the backing of 13 out of 24 senators. His opponent, Alan Peter Cayetano — a key supporter of former President Rodrigo Duterte — acknowledged the loss after one of his own allied senators switched sides, handing the rival faction a clear majority.
“It’s a relief,” said Jean Franco, a political professor at the state-run University of the Philippines. However, she cautioned that the country’s democracy, “with its weak and fragile institutions,” still faces significant challenges ahead.
The Senate power struggle has widely been viewed as an extension of the bitter political feud between Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte. The two were once political partners before a very public and acrimonious falling out — a conflict that highlights the deep divisions and turbulent nature of Philippine politics.
Vice President Duterte has held Marcos responsible for her father’s arrest and his transfer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague last year. The elder Duterte is set to face trial before the global court beginning in November on charges of crimes against humanity.
Those charges are rooted in the violent anti-drug campaign he carried out while in office, during which thousands of mostly low-income drug suspects were killed. Rodrigo Duterte has denied ever ordering extrajudicial killings.
Cayetano had originally seized the Senate presidency on May 11 after his faction gained a narrow majority when Sen. Ronald dela Rosa resurfaced following months out of public view to cast a supporting vote. Dela Rosa, who once served as Rodrigo Duterte’s national police chief, has been identified by the ICC as a co-perpetrator in the widespread killings of drug suspects. An ICC arrest warrant for dela Rosa was unsealed on May 11, after which he went back into hiding and has not been found.
A separate blow to Cayetano’s faction came on June 1, when another allied senator, Jinggoy Estrada, was arrested and jailed following an indictment on a plunder charge. Estrada is accused of accepting large kickbacks connected to a flood control project — an allegation he denies.
Control of the Senate carries enormous significance. The chamber is expected to begin the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte in July, after the House of Representatives voted last month to impeach her. The charges against her include unexplained wealth and publicly threatening to have President Marcos assassinated.
The House of Representatives is largely controlled by Marcos allies. The vice president has denied all of the allegations. Her supporters argue the charges were fabricated to block her from running for president when Marcos’ six-year term concludes in 2028.
