LP senators ousted from majority, committee posts

MANILA, Philippines (3rd update, 5:43 p.m.) — Several senators from the Liberal Party have been ousted from their committee chairmanships and were booted out of the majority on Monday.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao declared the senate president pro tempore post, held by Sen. Franklin Drilon, as vacant.

He also declared the chairmanships of the committees on education, agriculture and health as vacant. The three committees were all chaired by Liberal Party members who have been voicing opposition to some of the administration's policies.

Senate President Koko Pimentel (right) swears in new Senate President Pro-Tempore Sen. Ralph Recto, who replaces Sen. Franklin Drilon. Drilon and colleagues Sens. Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan become part of the Senate minority. Pacquiao office/Released

Sen. Ralph Recto, who was previously the minority leader, has been elected as the new Senate President Pro Tempore, replacing Sen. Franklin Drilon. Both senators are members of the LP.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a Liberal Party ally who chaired the committee on health, has been replaced by Sen. JV Ejercito.

Sen. Cynthia Villar replaced Sen. Francis Pangilinan of the LP as chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and food.

Sen. Bam Aquino has also been ousted as chairman of the committee on education and has been replaced by Sen. Francis Escudero.

Aquino, Drilon, Hontiveros and Pangilinan are now part of the Senate minority along with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

The four LP senators ousted from their posts were also those who visited Sen. Leila De Lima at her office before her arrest last week. They also attended the 31st anniversary celebration of the EDSA revolution at the People Power Monument in Quezon City last Saturday.

"If this is the price to pay to show up on the streets of EDSA, talking about democracy, talking about the issues of violence on our streets... If this is the price to pay, I gladly pay that price," Aquino said on being stripped off his committee chairmanship.

In this Feb. 7, 2017 photo, Liberal Party Sens. Kiko Pangilinan (center), Bam Aquino and Risa Hontiveros attend the hearing on the proposed revival of the death penalty with Sen. Leila de Lima (right). Pangilnan is the president of Liberal Party. Senate PRIB

De Lima, also an LP member, is facing charges for her alleged involvement in the new Bilibid Prison drug trade.

Last Thursday, the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court issued an arrest warrant against De Lima over drug charges by the Department of Justice. The neophyte senator is currently detained at the PNP headquarters at Camp Crame. — with reports from Paolo Romero