At A Glance
- Sen. Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, said the panel was given permission by Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III to use the Senate President's conference room.
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said on Thursday, February 26 the earliest he can conduct a committee hearing on the various ethics complaint filed against senators would be on March 4.
Ejercito, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, said the panel was given permission by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III to use the Senate President’s conference room.
According to Ejercito, he originally asked the Senate president for permission to use the Senate Lounge, but was later granted access to the conference room.
“Senate President Sotto has authorized the ethics committee to use the Senate President’s Conference Room on March 4 at 10 a.m. to expedite the meeting as soon as possible,” Ejercito said.
“The meeting will be an executive session among members. The agenda is the adoption of rules, and we will proceed to the initial vetting of cases,” he said.
So far, six complaints are pending before the ethics panel. This includes the case involving Ejercito and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Other senators who are facing an ethics case include Senators Risa Hontiveros, Francis Escudero.
Ejercito said the panel will adopt a “first in, first out” policy in hearing the pending cases.
“It would be a first in, first out, whoever filed the first complaint, we will hear that first,” he said.