Chiz: Minority senators will have committee chairmanships

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Esucero said Wednesday that all the four other members of the Senate minority bloc, except Senate Minority Leader Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, will be given respective committees to lead in the 20th Congress.

Escudero explained that usually, only the Senate President, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, and Senate President Pro Tempore do not have committee chairmanships because they are officers of the Senate. 

This means that all the 41 permanent committees of the upper chamber will be distributed to the 20 other senators, including those from the minority bloc. 

“Lahat sila magkakaroon ng komite… Inuuna lamang mag-organize ang majority, kapag natapos mag-organize ang majority, ang minority naman ang io-organize,” Escudero said in a Balitanghali interview.

(All of them will be given a committee. The majority just has to organize first, and then the minority will organize after.) 

“Itong Senadong ‘to, nagdaang Senado man, merong komite ‘yung mga miyembro ng minority except for the minority leader dahil by tradition, ‘yung apat na officers ng Senado us usually walang komite, maliban na lamang kung may gusto sila,” he added. 

(In this Senate, even the previous one, the members of the minority were given a committee except for the minority leader because by tradition, the four officers of the Senate usually do not have a committee, unless they want something to lead.) 

The five-man Senate minority bloc is composed of Senators Risa Hontiveros, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Loren Legarda, Panfilo "Ping" Lacson. The group is led by Sotto. 

On Tuesday’s Senate plenary session, 32 of the 41 committee chairmanships were filled, including the significant ones like the blue ribbon committee that will be led by first-termer Senator Rodante Marcoleta; Committee on Finance by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian; and Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes by Senator Robin Padilla.

Other senators were also given two or more committees to chair this 20th Congress, such as Senators Alan Peter Cayetano (Accounts; Science and Technology; Higher, Technical and Vocational Education; and Justice and Human Rights), Imee Marcos (Labor, Employment & Human Resource Development; Cooperatives; and Foreign Relations); Pia Cayetano (Energy; Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking; and Ways and Means); and Bong Go (Health and Demography; Sports; and Youth). 

Lacson committee

Meanwhile, Lacson said that the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation had been offered to him. 

In a statement, Lacson said he accepted the chairmanship, stressing that he will push for the passage of the Anti-Political Dynasty Act which is included in his priority bills in the 20th Congress. 

“I will schedule as soon as possible my Anti-Political Dynasty bill and another bill also referred to that committee,” Lacson said.

Escudero pointed out that the distribution of committee chairmanships does not depend on the seniority or length of service of a senator. 

“Walang kinalaman ‘yan. Lahat kami ay pare-parehong senador—matanda man o bata, matagal nang nanilbihan o bago lang. Hindi sinusukat ang kakayahan ng isang senador base sa haba ng oras o ikli ng oras ng kanyang paninilbihan dahil pare-pareho lamang naman kaming binoto ng sambayanan at pare-pareho kaming tigi-tigisa lamang ang boto sa Senado,” the Senate president said. 

(That has nothing to do with the chairmanship. We are all senators—old or young, whether serving for long or not. The ability of a senator is not measured based on the length of his/her service because we were all voted by the people and each of us has a vote in the Senate.) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News