Senate Leadership Changes Hands Ahead of Sara Duterte’s Impeachment Trial

MANILA — A weeks-long power struggle in the Philippine Senate ended Wednesday when Sherwin Gatchalian was elected Senate president, replacing Alan Peter Cayetano just weeks before the chamber is set to begin the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

New Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian talks during a special session at the Philippine Senate in Pasay city, Philippines on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Gatchalian won the post with 13 of the 24 senators voting in his favor. Cayetano, a prominent supporter of the Dutertes, conceded after losing a slender and disputed hold on the chamber.

Senator Joel Villanueva, left, reacts as he talks with Senator Sherwin Gatchalian at the Philippine Senate in Pasay city, Philippines on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Both men had claimed the presidency during a two-week standoff that hinged on different legal interpretations of quorum rules. The impasse was resolved when one of Cayetano’s allied senators defected Wednesday, giving the opposing bloc a clear majority.

Senator Miguel Zubiri, left, speaks during a special session at the Philippine Senate in Pasay city, Philippines on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

“It’s a relief,” said Jean Franco, a political science professor at the state-run University of the Philippines, while warning that the country’s democracy, “with its weak and fragile institutions,” still faces mounting challenges.

Observers have cast the Senate factional fight as an extension of the deep political rift between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte. The two were once allies but later fell out in a high-profile dispute that has underscored longstanding divisions in the country’s turbulent politics.

New Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian bangs the gavel during a special session at the Philippine Senate in Pasay city, Philippines on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Vice President Sara Duterte has publicly accused Marcos of responsibility for the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and for his transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague last year. The detained former president is due to face the ICC in November on charges related to alleged crimes against humanity tied to his anti-drug campaign; he has denied ordering extrajudicial killings.

The leadership change follows a chaotic period in the Senate. Cayetano initially captured the presidency on May 11 after his faction briefly secured a narrow majority when Sen. Ronald dela Rosa unexpectedly reappeared to back him after months in hiding. Dela Rosa, who once served as national police chief under Rodrigo Duterte, has been named by the ICC as a co-perpetrator in alleged widespread killings of drug suspects; an ICC arrest warrant for him was unsealed on May 11 and he remains at large.

Another Cayetano ally, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, was arrested and jailed on June 1 after being indicted on a plunder charge linked to alleged kickbacks from a flood-control project; Estrada denies the allegation.

Control of the Senate matters because the chamber is expected to begin Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial in July. She was impeached by the House of Representatives last month on criminal allegations that include unexplained wealth and an alleged public threat to have President Marcos assassinated. The House is dominated by Marcos allies; Sara Duterte and her supporters deny the charges and say they were fabricated to derail her publicly stated intention to run for the presidency in 2028.

What comes next: the Senate must organize the trial, set procedures and a calendar for July, and navigate further political tensions as the ICC case against the former president proceeds toward a November schedule.