The Senate Committee on Rules decided on Tuesday, Aug. 9 that two Senate deputy majority leaders - Senators Joseph Victor ‘’JV’’ Ejercito and Mark Villar- would be considered ex-officio members of all permanent Senate committee.
This was adopted during the first meeting of the Senate rules committee chaired by Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva.
Last Aug.2, Ejercito and Villar were elected as deputy majority leaders, a first in the Senate leadership ladder.
On Aug. 3, Senator Risa Hontiveros was also elected as deputy minority leader, another first.
Hontiveros is a member of the two-man Senate minority bloc. Senator Aquilino ‘’Koko’’ Pimentel III is the Senate minority leader.
Also discussed during the meeting was a proposal to create the committees on arts and culture, and migrant workers, as well as the expansion of the committee on cultural communities to include Muslim affairs.
Present during the meeting were Senators Juan Edgardo ‘’Sonny’’ Angara, Ejercito, Villar, Sherwin Gatchalian, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, and Pimentel.