Erwin Tulfo among possible new Senate blue ribbon committee chair —Sotto

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Senator Erwin Tulfo is now included among those who may be chosen as the new Senate blue ribbon committee chairperson after Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson resigned from the post.

Sotto said Erwin may take over the Senate panel if the five senators initially picked for the position decline, according to a report of Super Radyo dzBB’s Nimfa Ravelo on Wednesday. 

Erwin, as a vice chairperson of the Senate blue ribbon committee, is set to automatically claim the chairmanship. 

Sotto said Erwin is a good choice. 

On Tuesday, Sotto said the following may be considered for the chairmanship of the Senate panel:

• Senator Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito
• Senator Raffy Tulfo
• Senator Pia Cayetano
• Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan 
• Senator Risa Hontiveros

Raffy has officially declined the position on Tuesday, according to Sotto. 

In their respective statements, Raffy and Pangilinan refused to accept the offer citing their chairmanship in major committees relevant to their advocacies. 

Ejercito is still thinking about the matter but said there are more qualified senators to head the Senate blue ribbon committee. 

Hontiveros and Cayetano have yet to issue a statement about the possibility of leading the Senate panel. 

The chairmanship of the Senate committee is expected to be resolved in the caucus of the majority bloc on Wednesday. 

Lacson on Monday resigned as chairman of the blue ribbon committee amid the ongoing probe of the panel into corruption in flood control projects.

In a letter addressed to Sotto, Lacson cited the dissatisfaction of other senators on the "direction" of the legislative inquiry on the alleged anomalous flood control projects for his resignation.

"In the course of the current investigation, which has implicated some senators in the flood control mess, a number of our colleagues have expressed disappointment with the 'direction' of the Blue Ribbon Committee, which this representation chairs," said Lacson.

"Furthermore, some senators publicly and secretly pursue the narrative that I am zeroing in on several of my colleagues while purportedly protecting those members of the Lower House perceived to be the principal actors in the budget anomalies related to the substandard and ghost flood control projects," he said. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA Integrated News