Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was elected as the new Senate President during a special session on Wednesday, June 17, formally replacing Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as head of the chamber.
Gatchalian secured 13 votes in the special session, ending a two-week leadership dispute that had triggered legal questions and caused uncertainty among Senate employees.
The leadership conflict began on June 3 when Gatchalian assumed the roles of Senate President Pro Tempore and acting Senate President.
His bloc maintained that a reorganization of the Senate leadership was valid after it was able to gather a quorum of 12 senators, including Senator Francis Escudero.
Wednesday's special session was convened to address pending legislative matters that had been affected by the leadership standoff.
Senator Joel Villanueva attended the session and voted in favor of Gatchalian's election.
With his victory, Gatchalian officially takes over the Senate presidency from Cayetano, who had challenged the June 3 leadership change.
This came hours after Cayetano conceded that Gatchalian's camp had the numbers to elect a new Senate president.
Earlier, Cayetano announced that he had filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the leadership transition.
The senators who were not present during Wednesday's special session were Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Pia Cayetano, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Camille Villar, Mark Villar, and Ronald 'Bato' dela Rosa.
