As an athlete, Sotto was also a member of the Philippine national bowling team, representing the country several times at the AMF World Cup.

[2] From April 30 to May 1, 2001, together with Juan Ponce Enrile, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson and Miriam Defensor Santiago, he led the EDSA III protests in support of Joseph Estrada.

[10] In spite of this, he ran for another term in the Senate in 2007 under the TEAM Unity coalition backed by the Arroyo administration, but was unsuccessful, finishing in 19th place.

In July 2014, following Enrile's arrest on charges of plunder relating to the pork barrel scam, Sotto became the acting Minority Floor Leader.

[28][29][30][31][32] One of Taguiwalo's daughters demanded a public apology from Sotto over his offensive remarks, asserting that "no woman deserves that kind of treatment".

[32] The Gabriela Women's Party also demanded a public apology, claiming that Sotto "went out of bounds" insulting solo parents and insinuating malice at Taguiwalo.

[31][29][33] The Commission on Human Rights condemned the remarks, saying: "It is deplorable that such a comment came from an elected senator and that it elicited laughter from the halls of the Congress.

[34] A statement from the Philippine Commission on Women called the incident "a mockery of a woman's circumstance as a solo parent as [the] status has nothing to do with her professional qualifications.

"[34] Representatives Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers Partylist) and Ariel Casilao (Anakpawis) deprecated the behavior of their colleagues in Congress for tolerating Sotto's remarks.

[29][39][40][41] He also added:"I will be the last person in this country to disrespect a woman because my mother was one of the founders of the Women's Rights Movement … I have two daughters who are separated, single, and have children so I don't think there should be big fuss about it.

The said groups claimed that the aforementioned apology was insincere and that Sotto normalized patriarchal views and trivialized the abandonment of responsibility over children.

[44][45][46] On May 9, the Federation of Solo Parents in Luz vi min (FSPL) approached Senator Sotto in his office and requested his support for the passage of amendments to Republic Act No.

These amendments included discounts on medicine, hospitalization fees, clothing, tuition, milk, and vitamins for solo parents and their children.

[47][48][49] On August 7, 2017, Sotto filed a resolution for the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to investigate the alleged unexplained wealth of Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista.

[50][51] At the start of the 18th Congress in 2019, Sotto regained his position as the 3rd highest ranking official in the Philippine government after he was re-elected as its Senate President.

On March 23, 2021, Sotto stated that he and fellow Senator Panfilo Lacson were being persuaded to form a tandem,[52] but the two senior legislators were still reluctant on deciding if they will file a candidacy together or individually, and when he was asked in an interview if he would run for higher office in the coming elections since he is term-limited and barred from running a third consecutive term as Senator, Sotto said that he is still undecided.

[52] In May 2021, Sotto revealed his contemplation on running for vice president in 2022 during a television interview on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).

[56] Sotto and Lacson's platforms include restoring trust in the government and a better lifestyle for Filipinos,[citation needed] with solutions that revolved around addressing corruption.

Sotto and Lacson planned to initiate an anti-corruption drive, reform the national budget, and digitalize government services.

[61] Meanwhile his running mate Lacson, on the other hand, also lost his bid for president to Bongbong Marcos, placing fifth with nearly a million votes.

He changed his stance on the penalty in 2021 when he entered the vice-presidential race in the upcoming 2022 presidential election, believing life imprisonment to be a better alternative.

He and his presidential running mate Panfilo Lacson agree that the issue should be concentrated on improving jail conditions, advocating the construction of regional penitentiaries where criminals convicted of a heinous crime could be incarcerated if not in New Bilibid Prison.

[citation needed] On July 31, Rey dela Cruz, Paloma's talent manager, lodged a formal complaint with Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.

On August 18, Paloma filed charges of rape and acts of lasciviousness against the three television personalities before the Quezon City fiscal's office.

[69] The crime of rape at the time, carried the death penalty in the Philippines, and to prevent his brother and cohorts from being sent to the electric chair, Sotto quickly went to see Paloma while she was still securing the services of Atty.

[71] In exchange for the dismissal of the charges of rape, the accused issued a public apology towards Paloma, stating: "We hope that you will not allow the error we have committed against you to stand as a stumbling block to that future which we all look forward to.

[75] After 34 years, in March 2016, Sotto denied involvement in the Pepsi Paloma rape case, stating that it was a gimmick of Dela Cruz.

[76] In response, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) asked, "Does he believe his status and authority as Senate President give him better chances of having the stories taken down?

[80] As an unintended example of the Streisand effect, Sotto's takedown request of the Inquirer.net articles renewed public interest in the Paloma gang rape case.

Sotto reasoned that the allegedly plagiarized passage was obtained from a text message sent by a Christian leader, which he then translated into Filipino as he found it fit for his speech without knowing that the words were Kennedy's.