Tulfo brothers, Lito Lapid, JV Ejercito offered committee chairmanships

Sen.Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday night said members of the Senate majority, led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, tried to convince him, his brother Sen. Raffy Tulfo, Sen. Lito Lapid, and Sen. JV Ejercito to switch sides to beef up their ranks.

In an interview with Vicky Morales on "24 Oras," Tulfo said the senior members of the Senate minority, on the other hand, reached out to the Senate Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

“Sa minority po, gusto po nila, lumipat po si Senator [Lito] Lapid, si Senator JV [Ejercito], kami pong magkapatid na Tulfo brothers, sumama po sa majority,” Erwin told “24 Oras” in an interview on Tuesday.

(From the minority, they want Senator Lapid, Senator JV, and us Tulfo brothers to switch over and join the majority.)

Erwin said that they stood their ground and remained with the minority bloc, citing that their views didn’t align with those in the majority.

“Kami rin naman, in-offeran din kami ng komite, lumipat kaming apat para ika nga, ilan sila dati 13 para maging 17 sila, hindi naman kami pumayag. Dahil mali naman, mukhang mali yung kanilang pinaglalaban, mali yung prinsipyo. Yung kanilang pinaglalaban ay for their personal gain, business interest, family interest, political interest, hindi interes ng bayan,” he added.

(We were also offered committees for the four of us to switch sides so that, as they say, they would go from 13 members to 17, but we didn't agree. Because it's wrong, what they are fighting for seems wrong, their principles are wrong. What they are fighting for is for their personal gain, business interest, family interest, political interest—not the interest of the nation.)

When asked if the minority is also making moves to convince those from the majority to join their side, Tulfo said their bloc was eyeing for Jinggoy Estrada and Loren Legarda.

“Mga senior members namin ay may kausap po doon, mga kaibigan naman po nila. Tama po ‘yun, si Senator Jinggoy…ayun po yung isang alam kong kinausap. Si Senadora Loren kinakausap din, magkakaibigan naman po ‘yan , magkakasama sila 17th, 18th, 19th Congress. Magbabarkada na po ‘yan, nagkaiba lang ng bakod,” said Erwin.

(Our senior members are talking to some people over there, who are their friends. That's right, Senator Jinggoy... that's one person I know who is being talked to. Senator Loren is also being talked to, they are all friends anyway, they were together in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Congresses. They are already a group of friends, they just ended up on different sides of the fence.)

It’s a deadlock at 11-11 between the majority and minority senators. Legarda switched sides after voting for Alan Peter Cayetano as the new Senate President, which surprised her former bloc members.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/987395/lacson-on-legarda-s-switch-she-could-have-told-us/story/

Raffy earlier said that two senators from the majority bloc may transfer to the minority amid dissatisfaction over a proposal to amend Senate rules and allow lawmakers to participate in plenary sessions remotely.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/989727/2-majority-senators-may-join-minority-bloc-raffy-tulfo/story/

If ever the minority bloc gets the upper hand, Erwin said that they are eyeing Sherwin Gatchalian as the Senate President.

“Kami po ang aming ino-nominate ay si Sherwin Gatchalian. Hindi ko po alam sa kabila kung sino ino-nominate nila, so bahala na po ang pagbobotohan natin sa araw na ‘yun. Kung bumaba man siya, kung tatablan ng hiya si Senate President Cayetano,” said Erwin.

(On our end, who we are nominating is Sherwin Gatchalian. I don't know who they are nominating on the other side, so we will just see how the voting goes on that day. That is if he steps down, if Senate President Cayetano actually feels any sense of shame.) –Vince Angelo Ferreras/NB, GMA News