Presidential sister and Senator Imee Marcos denied allegations that she initiated the plan to change the Senate leadership.

Marcos issued a statement over the weekend, stating that Senate minority bloc could attest that she was the last to know and to join the attempted coup against Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

I just want to refute the circulating claims that I was the one behind the Senate shake-up—IT’S NOT ME, she said.

It’s important for the Senate President to know that his ouster is causing a lot of buzz because senators fear that our institution is being shaken by cases and controversies for which senators should not be held accountable for, she added.

Talks about unseating Sotto as Senate President circulated last week, with Senator Loren Legarda being eyed to replace him.

But the Senate suspended its session on Wednesday with no leadership change. Sotto back then said that the Senate majority bloc foiled a coup attempt.

On Friday, Sotto said the removal of Marcos as the chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee was one of the reasons why there was an attempt to change the leadership in the chamber.

Marcos, in response, denied that the committee had anything to do with the ouster attempt.

She also admitted that she did not expect anything when it comes to internal politics in the Senate, being a critic of the administration of her brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

To recall, several former and incumbent senators have been implicated in the flood control controversy since the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee launched an investigation, in aid of legislation, into the matter.

Rumors about the Senate shake-up also came at the height of the heated exchanges between senators regarding the row between Chinese and Philippine government officials.

Fifteen senators have signed a proposed resolution denouncing the public statements issued by the Chinese Embassy against Filipino officials, which they described as “contrary to accepted standards of diplomatic conduct and mutual respect between states.”

Marcos—who was back then still the chairperson of the Foreign Relations committee—-did not sign the resolution, but she filed a separate resolution calling on all government officials and employees to exercise restraint, sobriety, and professionalism in public communications relating to foreign affairs.