Tito Sotto Hands Over Senate President's Office to Sherwin Gatchalian

On Monday, Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto officially turned over the Office of the Senate President to current Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian. Photographs show the space with its original fixtures and some furniture still in place. Gatchalian assumed the Senate’s top post in June 2026 after the ouster of Alan Peter Cayetano, while Sotto previously headed the chamber from September 2025 to May 2026 and was elected Pro Tempore in a special session.

The handover follows last week’s surprise discovery that the former office of detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada had been emptied of furniture and fixtures, a practice the Senate says is customary. Ombudsman officials later inspected Estrada’s vacated office, and the senator remains detained on non-bailable plunder charges ordered by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division.