Detained senators Jinggoy Estrada, Marcoleta get Senate committee chairmanships

Detained senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta were given Senate committee chairmanships on Wednesday, with Estrada taking the helm of the electoral reforms panel and Marcoleta heading the tourism committee.

Their election came as the Senate continued reorganizing its committees following the opening of the 20th Congress’ second regular session on Monday under Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.

Estrada was named chairperson of the Electoral Reforms Committee after Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III gave up the post. Sotto was subsequently elected chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Works.

“I give it up [for Senator Jinggoy],” Sotto told reporters in a chance interview.

"It is a rule in the Senate that aside from the Office of the Senator, each senator needs to have a committee. The committee budget is where the senator’s employees draw their salaries," he added.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said Estrada and Marcoleta remain senators despite being in detention and are therefore entitled to committee assignments.

Referring to Estrada, the Senate President said: "He is still a senator and a member of the Senate minority, so members of the minority will still be given committees.

Gatchalian said the vice chairperson would run the committee in Estrada’s absence.

"There is also a vice chairperson who can run the committee. In that sense, the vice chairperson will run the committee," he said.

Estrada is detained at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas after the Sandiganbayan ordered his arrest in June over a non-bailable plunder case involving allegations that he received P573 million in kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects. Estrada has denied the allegations.

Marcoleta, meanwhile, was arrested on July 6 after the Sandiganbayan found probable cause to proceed with a plunder case accusing him of receiving P75 million in allegedly illegal campaign donations during his 2025 Senate run. He has also denied wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Marcoleta was elected chairperson of the Senate Committee on Tourism.

It was not immediately clear whether Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who has been out of public view amid a reported standing arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), would also be given a committee chairmanship.

Senator Imee Marcos was named deputy Senate minority leader.

The following senators were likewise elected to chair their respective Senate committees:

• Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies — Senator Mark Villar
• Committee on Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs — Senator Robinhood Padilla
• Committee on Culture and the Arts — Senator Loren Legarda
• Committee on Public Information and Mass Media — Senator Robinhood Padilla
• Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking — Senator Pia Cayetano
• Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises — Senator Camille Villar
• Committee on Sports — Senator Bong Go
• Committee on Youth — Senator Bong Go
• Committee on Cooperatives — Senator Imee Marcos
• Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation — Senator Loren Legarda

— MCG, GMA News