SEN. Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada on Tuesday denied being a part of an alleged plot to oust Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri from the upper chamber's top post.
"There's no truth to it. To quell all speculations, there's no truth to it," Estrada said when asked about a rumor that some senators were trying to convince him to replace Zubiri.
Estrada said he was ready to sign the resolution of support for Zubiri's leadership that was being passed to some senators for signature. "Of course, of course [I would sign it]. But I haven't received any copy yet, so how can I sign [it] if they don't want to let me sign?"
Estrada admitted that the rumors have been circulating but said he didn't know where they came from.
Asked what he would do if he were stripped of the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Defense and Security, Estrada said he would ask for an explanation for his being replaced.
Reports said Estrada was being considered to replace Zubiri because he was close to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who is now at odds with the Senate president over the failed people's initiative to amend the Constitution.
Zubiri on Tuesday thanked his colleagues for support for his leadership amid fresh speculations of a coup over the weekend.
On Monday, 14 senators, including Zubiri, signed a statement of support for the incumbent Senate president's leadership.
"I am deeply humbled by my colleagues' continued trust in my leadership of the Senate. I always say that I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues, and with their strong show of support, I am emboldened to press on as Senate President," Zubiri said in a statement.
"I thank my fellow senators — everyone who already signed the statement of support, as well as those who have signified intent to sign it too," he added.
The senators who signed the statement so far are Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, and Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito, Mary Grace Poe, Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, Manuel "Lito" Lapid, Rafael "Raffy" Tulfo, Mark Villar, Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, Francis Tolentino and Christopher "Bong" Go.
Meanwhile, Deputy Majority Leader for Communications and ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo said the House of Representatives does not meddle in Senate affairs.
Earlier, Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa "Imee" Marcos said rumors of a Senate coup emanated from the House of Representatives.
Tulfo said in a press conference Tuesday that they had heard the rumors but said they could not get involved.
"That's their house. Why would we meddle in it? The one who said it came from us, I don't know where she got that idea," he said in Filipino.
He said lawmakers in the House of Representatives were too busy to get involved in a Senate coup.
He also said it was the senators' business if they wanted to have a change of leadership.
Tulfo asked his fellow lawmakers, both in the Senate and the House, to keep moving forward.
"Let's do our jobs because there's still a lot to be done," he said in English and Filipino.
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