41 Senate committee chairmanships distributed

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has completed distribution of 41 committee chairmanships for the 18th Congress with four senators heading three committees each.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier said the chamber adopted resolutions that created the committee on overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and committee on sustainable development goals and innovation.

The senators who head three committees each are Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Cynthia Villar and Imee Marcos.

Gatchalian chairs the committees on basic education, arts and culture; energy, and science and technology.

Gordon heads the powerful Blue Ribbon committee or the accountability of public officers and investigations; government corporations and public enterprises, and justice and human rights.

Villar remains chairman of the committee on agrarian reform; agriculture and food, and environment and natural resources. She headed the same committees in the 17th Congress.

Marcos, a neophyte senator, heads the committees on cultural communities; economic affairs and electoral reforms, and people’s participation.

The Senate website indicated that 11 senators, mostly from the majority, are heading committees.

They are Nancy Binay, Ronald dela Rosa, Christopher Go, Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquiao, Aquilino Pimentel III, Grace Poe, Ramon Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino, Joel Villanueva and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Binay heads the committees on climate change and tourism, Dela Rosa the committees on peace, unification and reconciliation, and public order and dangerous drugs.

Go chairs the committees on health and demography, and sports, while Lacson the committees on accounts, and national defense and security. 

Pimentel now heads the committees on foreign relations, and trade, commerce and entrepreneurship.

Poe keeps the committees on banks, financial institutions and currencies, and public services, which she also headed in the 17th Congress.

Pacquiao chairs the committees on ethics and privileges, and public works. 

Revilla chairs the committees on civil service, government reorganization and professional regulation, and public information and mass media.

Tolentino heads the committees on local government and urban planning, and housing and resettlement.

Villanueva is chairman of the committees on higher, technical and vocational education, and labor, employment and human resources development.

Zubiri, the majority leader, heads the committees on cooperatives and rules.

Six other senators – Sonny Angara, Pia Cayetano, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, Lito Lapid and Francisco Pangilinan – have one committee each.

Angara chairs the committee on finance; Cayetano the ways and means; De Lima the social justice, welfare and rural development, and Hontiveros the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality.

Lapid heads the committee on games and amusement, and Pangilinan the committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes.

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon proposed a review of the referral system as well as the jurisdiction of the committees on various legislation and issues to determine which of them are no longer relevant and could be collapsed.

Drilon said there could be some committees that have few bills referred to them, which may indicate that they may no longer be needed.