MANILA - It's a super majority for Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III after 19 senators signified their intention to support Pimentel as the next Senate President.

Speaking to radio DZMM, Pimentel said four more senators have agreed to sign a resolution that will support his bid for the Senate presidency.

The four are:

Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito
Senator Joel Villanueva
Senator Miguel Zubiri
Senator Richard Gordon

Five senators have yet to sign the resolution picking Pimentel to be the next Senate President.

They are:

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano
Senator Cynthia Villar
Senator Ralph Recto
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
Senator Francis Escudero

Pimentel said Senator Tito Sotto will remain the Senate Majority Leader in the 17th Congress. He said the resolution signed by the 19 senators shows that the Senate will advance the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte.

He also said he does not know who will be designated Senate minority leader.

"In the recent Congresses, yung natalo sa election ang naging minority leader although there is no law that says that," he said.

He said he has talked to Senator Cayetano and that they agreed "that we belong to one camp and we are all supportive and protective of the president."

Pimentel said he sees no problem with Liberal Party senators joining the Senate majority while LP congressmen join the minority in the House of Representatives.

"Maybe there is a tactical reason why they want to be part of the minority of a chamber. It does not mean they want to stop the legislative agenda," he said.

A total of 19 senators are set to sign a resolution backing to be the next Senate president.