Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Sunday dismissed a viral social media post about an alleged leadership shake-up in the Senate as fake news designed to sow confusion.
Lacson said the report underestimated the unity and awareness of the new Senate majority bloc, describing it as an attempt to trick lawmakers into defecting.
“Malevolent, underhanded, foul, and desperate. If there’s a song called Achy Breaky Heart, this one is Faky Breaky News,” he said.
The post, published Saturday night by a page called “OneTV Philippines,” claimed that Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano had secured enough support to assume the Senate presidency. The page describes itself on Facebook as a digital news network based in Davao City and Pagadian City.
The veteran lawmaker reminded the public that there is a proper procedure for any change in Senate leadership. He explained that senators seeking a shift must present a resolution signed by at least 13 members directly to the sitting Senate president.
“Then the sitting Senate President resigns at the opening of the session, not through a media outlet, whether nationally recognized or obscure,” Lacson said.
The controversy followed a legitimate change in leadership earlier this month, when Vicente Sotto III, formerly minority leader, was elected Senate president.
Lacson was chosen as Senate president pro tempore and also assumed the chairmanship of the Blue Ribbon Committee.
In a statement, Senate President Vicente Sotto III also urged the public to be vigilant against misleading content online.
“Let us be cautious of fake news pages spreading reports that only add to the turmoil our country is experiencing today,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also denied the rumors, saying all members of the majority bloc remain committed to the current leadership.
“Fake news. In fact, we have a lunch and caucus tomorrow and all members of the Majority have confirmed. So let’s just focus on work instead of creating intrigue,” he said.
The senator stressed that reports of Cayetano securing numbers to unseat Sotto were baseless and misleading.
