MANILA, Philippines — Newly appointed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano clarified that the change in Senate leadership was not influenced by the impending impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a statement hours after he took his oath, Cayetano said that the change was driven by the need for unity in response to the growing challenges facing the nation.
Cayetano pledged to steer the chamber through what he described as a period marked by overlapping domestic and global crises, corruption concerns, rising economic pressures, geopolitical tensions, and rapid technological change.
He emphasized the growing hardships faced by ordinary Filipinos and called on political leaders to work together rather than deepen divisions.