Jinggoy Estrada is Senate’s top 2 official; others get new posts

FILE PHOTO: Senator Jinggoy Estrada is the new Senate President Pro Tempore as new set of officials was elected in the Senate following the resignation of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and his allies on Monday, May 20, 2024. (Joseph Vidal/Senate Social Media Unit)

MANILA, Philippines — A new set of officials was elected in the Senate following the resignation of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and his allies on Monday.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada is the new Senate President Pro Tempore while Senator Francis Tolentino is elected Senate Majority Leader and concurrent chairman of the upper chamber’s committee on rules.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, on the other hand, will now head the Senate committee on accounts.

READ: Jinggoy Estrada fleshes out multi-million doctors-pharma collusion

Estrada replaced former Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda while  Tolentino took the post previously held by Senator Joel Villanueva.

Cayetano, meanwhile, replaced Senator Nancy Binay as the committee on accounts chair.

Binay also stepped down as head of the Senate committees on ethics, and tourism.

READ: Chiz Escudero is new Senate president; Miguel Zubiri out

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero was elected as the new Senate president on Monday as no one objected on the Senate floor when Senator Alan Peter Cayetano nominated him to the post.

The change in the Senate leadership followed several talks of an ouster plot against Zubiri since heading the Senate in July 2022.