By Vanne Elaine Terrazola and Mario Casyuran
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the conflict between the incumbent and newly-elected senators over committee chairmanships is almost resolved following their meeting Wednesday night.
Sen. Vicente Sotto III
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Members of the Senate supermajority bloc in the 18th Congress met over dinner hosted by Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao at his Makati City residence Wednesday night. The meeting was arranged amid the reported scramble for the chairmanships of Senate committees.
Present during the dinner-meeting were Sotto, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Pacquiao, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Grace Poe, and Joel Villanueva.
Returning senators Lito Lapid and Ramon Revilla Jr. were also present, as well as neophyte lawmakers Christopher Go, Ronald dela Rosa, Imee Marcos, and Francis Tolentino.
Graduating Senators Gregorio Honasan and Loren Legarda also attended the dinner meeting.
"Ninety-five percent. We assume all is well. Just one or two committees na lang (left)," Sotto said in a text message when asked if the dispute on the committee chairmanships had been settled.
"May konti na lang contentious na committee (There are only a few contentious committees)," he added.
According to Villanueva, the meeting was "quick because it’s more of welcoming" their incoming colleagues.
He said Sotto briefed the neophyte senators about the Senate's traditions and culture, as well as the importance of its independence.
The Senate chief also tackled "respect," Villanueva added.
Current senators earlier agreed to follow the equity of the incumbent rule in deciding who should lead each of the 40 Senate committees.
This means that the preference of senior members will be prioritized over those of the newly-elected ones.
New senators to get committees
Senator-elect Christopher Lawrence ‘’Bong’’ Go said senators-elect from the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP-Laban) could solidify the support of the 24-member Senate to the legislative agenda of President Duterte in the coming 18th Congress.
Go vowed that he and the other incoming senators would respect the Senate’s tradition of ‘’equity of the incumbents’’ in the distribution of committee chairmanships for the coming 18th Congress that officially starts July 22.
‘’Ipinalista lang ang mga preferred committees ng mga miyembro ng mayorya,’’ he said. (Members of the majority asked us to submit a list of our preferred committees.)
‘’It was a simple gathering among senators so that we can be more acquainted with one another,’’ Go said of the meeting also attended by Sotto.
‘’We were also able to talk about certain issues so that we can work better together as colleagues in the Senate,’’ he added.
‘’Importante na makapagtulungan kami para maisakatuparan ang aming mga adbokasiya at mga ipinangako noong kampanya para sa ikabubuti ng ating kapwa Pilipino,’’ he added. (It is important that we cooperate so that our advocacies and promises during the political campaign would be pushed through to help the Filipino people.)
Go said he really wanted to help the Executive Branch by having a ’’leadership role’’ at the Senate committees on health, education, sports or urban planning, housing and resettlements.
‘’Pero depende pa rin naman ito sa sentimyento ng majority bloc,’’ he said. (But this depends on the sentiment of the majority bloc.)
During their meeting, the senators were asked to list the Senate committees they want to handle in the 18th Congress.
Go said that aside from the health committee, the committees on Sports; and Urban Planning, Housing, and Resettlement were also offered to him.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito will be vacating the chairmanship of both the health and urban planning committees after he failed to secure another Senate term in the last midterm elections. Pacquiao, on the other hand, chairs the sports panel.
Former police chief Dela Rosa is poised to chair the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs. Also being offered to him is the Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, which is currently held by Honasan.
Sotto confirmed that Tolentino would be handling the Senate Committee on Local Government. He served as mayor of Tagaytay City.
The three PDP-Laban senatorial bets had a meeting with Sotto before the gathering to clarify "some issues".
Tolentino was earlier reported as being interested to chair six Senate panels. This escalated to a possible leadership change when he supposedly pushed Sen. Cynthia Villar to challenge Sotto in his bid to retain his presidency in the Upper Chamber.
Marcos, Villar's partymate in the Nacionalista Party (NP), meanwhile preferred to chair the Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development. Detained Sen. Leila de Lima is its present chair.
But Sotto said he is still "fixing" the senators' submissions, particularly those involving contentious committees. He said he would have the committees finalized by next week.
'Sotto still SP'
Zubiri said the supermajority bloc agreed to retain Sotto as their leader in the next Congress.
"Yes, it's SP Sotto pa rin (still)," he told reporters.
Go also said that the senators from the PDP-Laban support Sotto's continued leadership.
Villar did not attend the meeting despite Pacquiao's invitation.
Last Monday, she indicated plans to ditch the gathering as she called on the PDP-Laban to sort out their issues.
"Mahirap iyong lahat kami nandoon . Paano makakapagsabi ng gusto nila iyong iba? Hayaan mong kausapin nila iyon at ayusin nila," she told reporters.
Villar refused to sign the draft resolution seeking to retain Sotto's leadership. She said she will only sign the measure if her party-mates get their preferred committees.
Aside from Villar, also absent were Senators Panfilo Lacson and Aquilino Pimentel III, as well as returning Sen. Pia Cayetano.
Cayetano was abroad, while Lacson and Pimentel "had family events that they could not leave," Sotto said.