Senator Win Gatchalian was formally elected president of the Philippine Senate (the upper house of the country's bicameral legislature) on 17 June, during a special session in Manila attended by 13 senators who voted unanimously in his favour. The vote ended weeks of contested leadership, during which rival senator Alan Peter Cayetano had refused to concede and even sought Supreme Court intervention to restore his claim to the post. Gatchalian, who called the role a daily responsibility to the Filipino people, urged senators to move past divisions and focus on pressing issues including rising fuel prices, earthquake recovery in Mindanao, and the threat of El Niño.