Tolentino to chair Blue Ribbon committee, Robin gets Charter change panel in Senate

Neophyte Senator Robin Padilla on Tuesday was officially named the chairman of the upper chamber's Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, while Senator Francis Tolentino was elected to head the Blue Ribbon Committee. 

This came after the senators elected the first batch of committee chairpersons in the 19th Congress.

During the Tuesday's plenary session, the following chairpersons have been installed:

• Finance: Sonny Angara
• Accounts: Nancy Binay
• Public Order Dangerous Drugs: Ronald dela Rosa
• Local Government: JV Ejercito
• National Defense: Jinggoy Estrada
• Ways and Means: Sherwin Gatchalian
• Health and Demography: Bong Go
• Women, Children, Family Relations: Risa Hontiveros
• Games and Amusement: Lito Lapid
• Foreign Relations: Imee Marcos
• Social Justice: Imee Marcos
• Public Services: Grace Poe
• Public Works: Ramon Revilla
• Higher Education: Francis Escudero
• Blue Ribbon: Francis Tolentino
• Energy: Raffy Tulfo
• Agriculture: Cynthia Villar
• Trade: Mark Villar
• Government Corporation & Public Enterprises: Alan Cayetano
• Sustainable Development Goals: Pia Cayetano

So far, 22 of the 39 standing committees have already been filled in.

The Senate has yet to create new panels  like the Committee on Migrant Workers, which was earlier mentioned by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The Constitutional Amendments committee is also known as the Cha-cha (Charter Change) panel. Padilla is an advocate of switching to a federal form of government, and has expressed confidence that he will be able to lead the committee despite his inexperience as a lawmaker.

The Blue Ribbon committee, meanwhile, is formally known as the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations. — BM, GMA News