Newly-inducted Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano earlier denied the change in Senate leadership would be done to ensure the dismissal of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment case.

On Monday, the senator said there was no truth to rumors that a Senate reshuffle will take place to block Duterte’s ouster, dismissing it as “political talk” from other parties.

“I wanna confirm sa inyo, na walang katotohanan na magpapalit ng leadership para itigil ‘yung impeachment. That’s just political talk by the others,” he said.

“So let’s see what happens, may mga consultations kami with the other members, but we need to unite and we need tamang direksyon ng ating bansa,” he said, after saying that the Philippines—and other nations—are praying for answers amid the oil crisis.

Later, Cayetano was elected as senate president, and Senator Loren Legarda, was appointed senate president pro tempore.