Ahead of the midterm elections, Rolling Stone Philippines is taking a closer look at the Top 15 senatorial candidates based on the January 2025 surveys by polling firms Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia.
Former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Castelo Sotto III has worked in public office since 1988. But two decades prior, he began his career in the entertainment industry, peaking with his hosting role in the noontime variety show, Eat Bulaga!
Sotto is involved in controversy surrounding the alleged sexual assault of late actress Pepsi Paloma in 1982, of which Sotto’s brother Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, and Richie D’Horsie were accused. Paloma eventuallydropped the rape and drugging charges against them, purportedly because Sotto forced her to do so. He denies coercing Paloma. While it’s been decades since the Paloma case made headlines, the controversy resurfaced when director Darryl Yap announced and teased a film centered on the Paloma case.
Will this hinder Sotto from once again occupying a Senate seat? Here’s everything else you need to know about him and where he stands on key political issues.
Current occupation: Eat Bulaga! host (since 1979)
Education: AB English from Colegio de San Juan de Letran
Previous occupations: Senate President (2018 – 2022), Senator (1992 – 2004, 2010 – 2022), Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman (2008 – 2009), Quezon City Vice Mayor (1988 – 1992)
Affiliated parties: Nationalist People’s Coalition, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino
Political Stances
Governance
When he ran for the vice presidency in 2022, Sotto and his running mate, fellow senatorial candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, said that they would establish anti-corruption policies and programs if they won the elections. In the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) vice presidential debate in March 2022, Sotto said “internal cleansing” and “leading by example” were crucial to addressing corruption in government. He also said that the government should digitalize all of its transactions to minimize human intervention.
Sotto was one of the 20 senators that voted to convict former Chief Justice Renato Corona in his impeachment trial in 2012 after the justice failed to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth to the public.
Of his three children, two are currently involved in politics: Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Carlo Sotto and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chairperson Lala Sotto. His nephew is Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto. In 2022, the former senator denied that his family was a political dynasty, saying in a radio interview, “If in one area their influence is concentrated, then you can call it a political dynasty. But in a case when one is doing this and another is doing that, that’s not a dynasty.”
His official website says that he is open to a bill prohibiting political dynasties depending on its definition of “political dynasty.”
In response to a shootout that killed two Cavite police officers in November 2020, Sotto proposed a “refresher course” that would re-orient police officers on their duties and rights.
Sotto was one of the senators to vote for the passage of legislation introducing taxation for Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in 2021. In October 2024, he defended his decision, saying that the measure allowed the government to identify illegal POGOs.
Economy
According to his official website, Sotto aims to push for agricultural modernization through budget increases and by mandating the government to buy “at least 50 percent of the output of local farmers” at their prices.
In 2013, he proposed that government employees be given a 14th month pay. He reasoned that the 13th month pay was not a sufficient bonus, arguing: “There are 52 weeks in a year. Divide it by four weeks in a month. Thirteen months. Wala namang bonus na ibinigay e.”
Human Rights and Social Justice
Since first taking office as senator in 1992, Sotto has been an advocate for the death penalty. In 2021, he changed his position on the issue, stating that life imprisonment and prison reform are “better solutions” to mitigating crime rates. Sotto also co-authored the Domestic Workers Act and the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act.
Sotto has expressed his disapproval of the SOGIE Equality Bill and the Divorce Bill. He said in January 2025 that he would push for “administrative annulment” in lieu of divorce legislation, expanding grounds for annulment and making it easier to process. In 2019, he called the SOGIE Equality Bill a “class legislation” that would only protect a small sector of society and said, “If you are a man, you will never be a woman, no matter what you do, because you cannot reproduce.”
He has not given his stance on indigenous rights.
Healthcare
In his time as senator, Sotto co-authored the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, Mental Health Act, and the Universal Healthcare Act. He also said he would support marijuana medicalization, albeit with reservations, as he would not approve of legalizing marijuana planting and research in the country.
The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act has provisions for the rehabilitation of drug users and their re-introduction to society.
Sotto opposed the passing of the Reproductive Health Law in 2012.
National Security and Foreign Policy
Sotto says that in order to ease tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines and China should engage in a joint venture to explore the disputed territory’s resources. He also emphasized holding up the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines in the event that China “attacks our coast guard.”
Sotto was one of the proponents of the Anti-Terror Law. Responding to concerns that the legislation would legitimize red-tagging, Sotto tweeted in 2020: “Terrorista ang target, hindi aktibista.”
Environment and Disaster Preparedness
In November 2020, Sotto urged the government to review existing environmental laws and their implementation in order to better prepare for natural disasters. In 1996, Sotto also wrote amendments into the Local Government Code, seeking to provide Local Government Units (LGUs) with calamity funds.
Disinformation
In July 2019, Sotto proposed an anti-fake news bill that would prohibit the publication and proliferation of false information on the internet. When he filed for his certificate of candidacy in October 2024, he said that he would re-introduce the bill in the 20th Congress if elected senator.
Notwithstanding, Sotto faced accusations of plagiarism in his tenure as senator. In 2012, late American Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter Kerry Kennedy alleged that Sotto copied Robert F. Kennedy’s 1966 Day of Affirmation speech, only translating its contents to Filipino for his own speech at the Philippine Senate. In the same year, he also reportedly plagiarized passages of a US blogger Sarah Pope’s post for his speech against the Reproductive Health Law.
Infrastructure Development
Sotto has pushed for the implementation of the Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment (BRAVE) program, which would aid LGUs in carrying out their own infrastructure projects.
According to his official website, Sotto has also proposed the establishment of desalination plants and rainwater harvesting systems, maximizing the country’s access to sea water and its wet climate. He also says that joint explorations with China in the West Philippine Sea may “help the country’s fuel crisis.”
Youth and Culture
In 2018, the former senator supported a measure that sought to lower the age of criminal liability from 15 to 13 years old, arguing that it would help in the rehabilitation of adolescent crime.
In 2015, he co-authored amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act to establish Bahay Pag-asa centers in LGUs, providing short-term residential care for children in conflict with the law.
In November 2018, Sotto opposed the exclusion of Filipino and Panitikan as core subjects in the K-12 curriculum. He said, “We can see these days among the youth the lack of grasp of the Filipino language and by removing this as a core subject in college or any other school level, I fear this would deteriorate even further.”
Sara Duterte Impeachment
Sotto has not expressed his support for or opposition to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. However, he pointed out that a new rule mandated during his time as senator states that impeachment proceedings must continue regardless of whether Congress is in session or adjourned. This conflicts with another rule, which states that impeachments can only proceed when Congress is in session. Sotto said that the conflicting rules will have to be raised to the Supreme Court for a resolution as soon as possible.
