Drilon urges majority to let De Lima, Hontiveros keep committees eyed by Marcos, Cayetano

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has called on senators in the majority to allow opposition colleagues Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros to keep their chairmanships of their respective committees.

Drilon was referring to the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development chaired by De Lima and the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality headed by Hontiveros.

“The equity of the incumbent rule must apply to all senators whether they belong to the majority or minority blocs," Drilon said.

"I hope the majority can take a good look at the performance of our colleagues in the minority as they have done an incredible job,” he added.

Drilon said the committees under De Lima and Hontiveros shepherded the passage of groundbreaking measures such as the Magna Carta of the Poor, the institutionalized Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act, and the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act.

De Lima kept the chairmanship despite being detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame since 2016.

With Senator Bam Aquino losing his reelection bid and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV bowing out after serving out two consecutive terms, the members of the Senate minority in the 18th Congress are down to Drilon, Hontiveros and Senator Francis Pangilinan.

“They can still do more in the next Congress,” Drilon said.

Drilon said Senators-elect Imee Marcos and Pia Cayetano were likely to get De Lima and Hontiveros' committees.

“The committee is a call of the majority. That we are stripped of the committees we now head will not diminish our resolve to scrutinize every measure and act as fiscalizer,” Drilon said.

“We are ready to listen and compromise as we had shown in the last Congress, but we are also prepared to fight ‘tooth and nail’ if need be," he added.

"Our number may have diminished, but we can assure the public we in the minority will be more vigilant and will do everything in our capacity to fight for the common good,” Drilon said. —NB, GMA News