The Senate Committee on Ethics and Privilege is set to meet next week to review its existing rules and might draft a new one for the approval of the body.

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, said this on Wednesday, January 28, a day after the Upper Chamber formally constituted its members.

After which, he said, the committee will proceed to vet each pending complaint.

“Yes, we will be reviewing the rules; drafting, so we can check what we can adopt from the previous Congress,” Ejercito told reporters in an interview.

“Then everybody will decide on, maybe, vetting the complaints or which of them have grounds to prosper,”

“That’s the reason why we no longer want to announce the names of those who have an ethics complaint because maybe, the others, have no grounds,”

“It’s unfair to destroy their name, especially if there is no grounds. So we will check first the grounds,” he said.

Ejercito, himself, is facing an ethics complaint, after a private citizen filed one against him for alleged gross neglect of duty and sitting on the pending complaints before his committee.

Nevertheless, he said, he will inhibit from hearing the ethics complaint filed against him.

“Of course, definitely. That’s why we already have a vice chairman, Sen. Kiko (Francis) Pangilinan,” he pointed out.

Earlier, the Senate majority bloc named Senators Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan and Erwin Tulfo to the panel.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, and Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano are also part of the ethics committee due to their leadership positions at the Senate.

The minority bloc also sought to replace Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Joel Villanueva with Senators Imee Marcos and Rodante Marcoleta.

“That’s the decision of the minority. We don’t know the reason but it was their decision,” Ejercito said.

Nevertheless, despite the current state of the ethics panel, Ejercito said the maximum it can do is accept a complaint that for some, may be minimal.

“We are reading and studying the complaints we have received, and appropriate action will be taken as soon as the Committee on Ethics is legally able to conduct hearings,” he said.

That’s why preparations are underway for next week’s organizational meeting, where the rules will be formally discussed and adopted.

“We plan to do this with utmost respect for the processes, established rules, and traditions of this institution, in faithful fulfillment of our mandate, without any gross neglect of our duty,” he said.