Senator Erwin Tulfo will automatically assume the chairmanship of the Senate blue ribbon committee if no one takes the post vacated by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.
Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto earlier named Sens. Raffy Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Francis Pangilinan, Pia Cayetano, and Risa Hontiveros as candidates for the post.
So far, Sen. Raffy has officially declined, while Ejercito is still contemplating, Sotto told reporters in a message late Tuesday night.
‘Erwin could be a good choice. If no taker, automatically the vice chairman steps in,’ he added when asked about the possibility that no one would be interested in taking Lacson’s place.
Sen. Erwin is the only vice chairman of the blue ribbon committee, according to Sotto.
‘He has expertise and experience in investigative journalism. Matapang pa! (He is also brave!)’ The Senate chief added in a separate message to reporters.
At present, Sen. Erwin heads two committees: games and amusement, and social justice, welfare, and rural development.
His brother, Raffy, already said on Tuesday that he would humbly decline if offered the blue ribbon panel chairmanship, as he does not want to lose focus on his three committees. He currently chairs the committees on labor, migrant workers, and public services.
While grateful to be considered for the post, Ejercito said he is aware of his limitations.
‘There are others who are more capable of chairing this important committee,’ he said in Filipino.
Pangilinan, meanwhile, said it would be ‘unwise to accept a fourth committee’ as he now chairs the committees on agriculture, justice and human rights, and constitutional amendments.
‘I have championed the country’s food security and agriculture sector for the last 15 years. I believe it is in helping address the serious and dire challenges of the agri sector that I can best serve our country with my utmost,’ he said in another statement.
He was also hoping that Lacson would change his mind, but the latter is firm with his decision.
Lacson resigned on Monday as chairman of the blue ribbon panel amid its investigation into corruption allegations hounding the government’s flood control projects.
‘In the course of the current investigation, which has implicated some senators in the flood control mess, a number of our colleagues have expressed disappointment [over] the ‘direction’ of the blue ribbon committee, which this representation chairs,’ he said in his letter to Sotto.
‘Furthermore, 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,’ he added.