Tolentino: Alan Cayetano qualified to lead Blue Ribbon but up to majority to elect panel chair

Senator Francis Tolentino said Thursday Senator-elect Alan Peter Cayetano is qualified to head the Blue Ribbon committee but it is up to the members of the Senate who will they elect to lead the panel in the 19th Congress.

“Senator Cayetano, the former Speaker, is well-qualified. I think he was a head before of the Blue Ribbon committee. So all senators are qualified. So we will just leave the decision to the majority, whatever chairmanship they would give me,” Tolentino said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

The senator made the statement when asked about the chairmanship of the powerful panel which he and Cayetano are reportedly vying for.

“The commitee chairmanship is supposed to be elected by the majority. So, I will abide by the decision of the majority once the 19th Congress convenes. So it’s up to the majority and the members of the Senate,” he explained.

In a recent interview, Cayetano said he would only join the majority bloc if he will be the chair the powerful committee.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is expected to become the next Senate president, earlier disclosed that Tolentino already accepted the chairmanship of the Blue Ribbon committee.

Tolentino said he can fit in any panel, even the committee on national defense which will be vacated by outgoing Senator Panfilo Lacson.

For Tolentino, the Senate Blue Ribbon panel should not be given on a “silver platter” and it should be assigned to a senator on the basis of “conviction, track record, and how you can steer the committee for the greater good.”

Should he be given a chance to head the panel, the lawmaker said he would conduct “preliminary determination” on the alleged “fraud” in the Social Security System (SSS).

“What I intend to do if ever this will be tackled by the Blue Ribbon committee, is to have a preliminary determination by the committee whether there is a probable cause to continue. So this is different from the previous procedure that you go straight ahead with the investigation,” Tolentino said.

On the other hand, the lawmaker said he will defer to the decision of the Blue Ribbon committee if they will re-open the investigation on the alleged irregular government procurement of COVID-19 supplies, including the transactions with the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

“Personally, if there are new evidence that would have to be shown or supervening event that would entail, I let the membership decide,” he said.

Recently, Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed intent to re-open the Pharmally investigation in the 19th Congress.

In the 18th Congress, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, headed by outgoing Senator Richard Gordon,  investigated the transfer of P42 billion worth of COVID-19 funds from the Department of Health to the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (DBM-PS).

The probe focused mainly on PS-DBM’s purchase of P8.6 billion worth of face masks, face shields, and PPEs from Pharmally, a firm that only had P625,000 in paid-up capital when it entered into government transactions.

In February, Gordon released a partial report recommending the filing of criminal charges against Pharmally officials Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani, and several government officials and individuals in connection with the alleged anomalous purchases of COVID-19 supplies.

The report also claimed that President Rodrigo Duterte betrayed the public trust in connection with his actions related to the government's multi-billion-peso contracts with Pharmally.

However, it was not reported out to the plenary as some members of the committee did not sign the report until the last session day of the Senate.—AOL, GMA News