Senate completes committee chairmanship lineup under new majority bloc
By Dhel Nazario
At A Glance
- Under the new majority bloc of Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, the Senate committee chairmanships were completed.
A new set of committee chairmanships and leadership positions in the Senate has been elected on Wednesday, June 17 under the leadership of Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian (Mark Balmores)
The powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will be chaired by Senator Erwin Tulfo, with Senators Francis Pangilinan and Panfilo Lacson serving as vice chairs. The panel’s membership will include all majority senators except Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
Senator Erwin also secured chairmanships in several committees, including Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, as well as Energy.
Pangilinan, likewise, holds multiple key posts, chairing the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, and Justice and Human Rights. He is also automatically designated member of Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
Lacson chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino was elected chair of the Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Committee, Basic Education, Science and Technology, and a member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET).
He is also vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means; Justice and Human Rights; and the National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation Committees.
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito was designated chair of the Finance Committee and the Local Government Committee, and vice chair of several panels, including Energy, Agriculture, Health and Demography, National Defense and Security, and others.
He was also named Senior Deputy Majority Leader.
Senator Risa Hontiveros once again gets the Health and Demography Committee and the Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality Committee.
Other key chairmanships include Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri chairing the Foreign Relations and Rules Committees, while Senator Vicente Sotto III heads both the National Defense and Security Committee and the Ethics and Privileges Committee.
Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid will chair the Games and Amusement Committee, and Senator Raffy Tulfo will lead the Public Services and Migrant Workers Committees.
Villanueva takes leadership of the Labor and Higher Education Committees, while also serving as Deputy Majority Leader and vice chair in the Migrant Workers Committee.