Two out of the five senators whose names were floated to have the capacity to handle the Senate blue ribbon committee have declined to head the powerful panel.
In separate statements on Tuesday, Sen. JV Ejercito and Sen. Raffy Tulfo thanked the chamber for considering them as the next blue ribbon chairperson, but they both clarified that they didn’t want the post.
‘Thank you for considering me to head the blue ribbon committee, but I know my limitations. I know there are a lot among my colleagues who can handle this important committee better,’ Ejercito said in Filipino
Tulfo, meanwhile, said he was also very flattered that his name was being considered among four other senators for the prestigious panel, but he maintained that if it were ever offered to him, he would decline.
‘I will humbly decline for the simple reason that I don’t want to lose focus on my three committee chairmanships that are my main advocacies – labor, migrant workers, and public services,’ said Tulfo.
Five senators have been mentioned as possible candidates to replace Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson as chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Aside from Ejercito and Tulfo, likewise considered to head the blue ribbon committee were Senators Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan, Pia Cayetano, and Risa Hontiveros.
According to Sotto, the majority bloc will meet on Wednesday to discuss Lacson’s resignation.
While Pangilinan’s name is being floated as chairman of the blue ribbon panel, the senator said he was still hoping that Lacson would reconsider his resignation.
In a resignation letter dated October 7 and addressed to Sotto, Lacson explained how a number of their colleagues had expressed disappointment with the ‘direction’ of the blue ribbon committee hearings regarding the anomalous flood control projects.
‘Some senators publicly and secretly pursue the narrative that I am zeroing in on several of my colleagues while purportedly protecting those members of the lower house perceived to be the principal actors in the budget anomalies related to the substandard and ghost flood control projects,’ said Lacson.
But according to him, nothing could be further from the truth.
‘This narrative is categorically false. These misrepresentations are being floated mostly by critics opposed to our efforts to get to the bottom of the flood control anomalies,’ he said.
Lacson underscored that his committee went where the evidence led them, and not by the noise coming from highly partisan political persuasions.
‘To all my colleagues, let me reiterate: there are no political considerations in any and all my actions related to my handling of the committee hearings and other related activities,’ said Lacson. /gsg