Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said the conflict between incumbent and newly elected senators over committee chairmanships is almost resolved following their meeting last Wednesday.
Members of the 18th Congress Senate supermajority bloc met in a dinner hosted by Sen. Manny Pacquiao in Makati City which was arranged amid the haggling over their preferred Senate committees.
Sotto, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Pacquiao, and Senators Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Grace Poe, Joel Villanueva, returning senators Lito Lapid and Ramon Revilla Jr., neophyte lawmakers Christopher Go, Ronald dela Rosa, Imee Marcos, and Francis Tolentino attended the gathering.
Graduating Senators Gregorio Honasan and Loren Legarda were likewise in the dinner meeting.
“95 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,” he added.
According to Villanueva, the meeting had been “quick because it’s more of welcoming” their incoming colleagues.
Sotto, he said, 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.
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 vacate the chairmanships of 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.
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, a former Tagaytay City mayor, would be handling the Senate Committee on Local Government.
The three PDP-Laban senatorial bets had a meeting with Sotto before the gathering to clarify “some issues.” (Vanne Terrazola)
