Senator Imee R. Marcos on June 17, 2026 said her bloc never felt aggrieved over losing committee chairmanships and leadership positions in the Senate, releasing a statement that distanced her group from the bitterness that marked weeks of conflict over the chamber’s top post.
In the statement, Marcos said it had been clear to her and several of her colleagues that the Senate leadership could be changed at any time provided a faction held enough votes. “Simula’t sapul, malinaw naman sa akin at sa ilan nating kasamahan, kung may sapat na boto, maaari ninyong baguhin ang liderato sa Senado,” she said. With the rival camp having assembled the necessary numbers, she added, the matter was settled: “Ngayong may sapat na boto sila, wala ng gulo.”
Marcos also rejected the notion that her group had taken personal offense at being unseated. “Kami naman ay never napikon, nasaktan ang pride at namersonal kapag nawawala sa committee o leadership — hindi kami entitled,” she said.
The statement was issued as the Senate convened a special session called by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to act on stalled priority measures and pending appointments. During that session, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was formally elected Senate President by the 13 senators present, ending a two-week leadership standoff with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. Gatchalian had served as acting Senate President since June 3, when the new majority declared all leadership posts vacant and installed him as Senate President pro tempore.
The leadership change was sealed earlier in the day after Cayetano conceded the post. In a statement titled “A Grateful Heart, An Unfinished Fight,” he acknowledged that the Gatchalian bloc would soon hold the votes to replace him and said he would not stand in the way, while vowing to continue pursuing accountability over alleged irregularities in the country’s flood control program.
Imee Marcos, who had supported Cayetano’s own rise to the Senate presidency in May, struck a conciliatory tone toward the outcome. Asked by reporters about the new majority’s 13 members, she replied simply, “Ah, okay,” as reported by GMA News, and affirmed she was fine with the Gatchalian-led bloc now holding the majority. The defection of Senators Joel Villanueva and Francis “Chiz” Escudero from Cayetano’s camp gave the new majority the numbers it needed.
Marcos has previously framed her bloc’s posture in similar terms. Following Tito Sotto’s installation as Senate President in September 2025, she noted that her group did not protest despite losing their committee assignments, saying they believed in the process and were “hindi kami kapit tuko sa posisyon.”
