Senate revamp strips Duterte-allied lawmakers of major chairships
MANILA, Philippines — Following the ousting of Sen. Chiz Escudero from the Senate presidency, the Senate is reshuffling its major chairships, with Duterte-allied senators losing powerful seats.
Major committees are typically reserved for the majority bloc, meaning those who voted for the current sitting Senate president. In this case, it is mostly senators allied with the Duterte family who lost seats after becoming the new minority bloc.
With the former minority bloc (composed of Sens. Tito Sotto, Ping Lacson, Loren Legarda, Migz Zubiri, and Risa Hontiveros) securing enough votes to oust Escudero, they can now get first dibs on the major committees they prefer.
Hontiveros and Sen. JV Ejercito were designated as Deputy Majority Leaders. This is a first for Hontiveros, who has long been affiliated with the minority bloc.
During the plenary session, the Senate majority designated the new chairships:
- Sen. Ping Lacson - Blue Ribbon Committee (vice Sen. Rodante Marcoleta)
- Sen. Raffy Tulfo - Labor Committee (vice Sen. Imee Marcos)
- Sen. Loren Legarda - Higher, Technical and Vocational Education Committee (vice Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano)
- Sen. Loren Legarda - National Defense Committee (vice Sen. Jinggoy Estrada)
- Sen. JV Ejercito - Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Committee (vice Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa)
- Sen. Risa Hontiveros - Health and Demography Committee (vice Sen. Bong Go)
- Sen. Loren Legarda - Accounts Committee (vice Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano)
Other members of the Senate who voted for Sotto are expected to keep their current chairships.
The Senate has yet to fully disclose all the new chairships, but other major committees that the new minority bloc is expected to vacate include the Foreign Relations Committee and the Justice and Human Rights Committee.
Go and Ejercito will serve as senior vice chairpersons of the Health Committee, alongside Hontiveros.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has been selected as the new minority leader. The new minority bloc of the Senate is as follows:
- Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano
- Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
- Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero
- Sen. Joel Villanueva
- Sen. Bong Go
- Sen. Bato dela Rosa
- Sen. Robin Padilla
- Sen. Imee Marcos
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