Pacquiao elected chair of Senate ethics panel

Senator Manny Pacquiao was elected on Tuesday as chairman of the chamber’s Committee on Ethics which hears the complaints of propriety against the senators.

Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri moved for the election of Pacquiao, replacing Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

“With the permission of the body, we move to elect Senator Manny Pacquiao as chairman of the committee on ethics, vice Senate President Tito Sotto,” Zubiri said before the plenary.

No one objected to Pacquiao’s election, prompting Sotto to approve the motion and formalizing the former’s chairmanship.

Sotto was the chairman of the committee when Senator Aquilino Pimentel III was still the Senate chief.

Sotto earlier said that he wanted Pimentel to take his place. 

As a matter of practice, the Senate President does not chair any committee as he is deemed a member of each panel.

The ethics committee has jurisdiction on all matters relating to the conduct, rights, privileges, safety, dignity, integrity, and reputation of the Senate and its members. 

The other members of the committee are Senators Panfilo Lacson, Gregorio Honasan II, Grace Poe, Risa Hontiveros, and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was also elected as member of the committee to fill the slot vacated by Pacquiao.

At present, among the pending complaints before the committee are those filed by Senators Richard Gordon and Antonio Trillanes IV against each other, and the one filed by former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II against Senator Risa Hontiveros. —NB/RSJ, GMA News