SP Tito Sotto Speaks on Sen. Erwin Tulfo, Sen. Pia Cayetano over Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairmanship
ERWIN TULFO, PIA CAYETANO – Senate President Tito Sotto claimed that either of them will be the permanent chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee.
The Senate flood probe is led by the Blue Ribbon Committee. When the investigation started, it was chaired by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. However, after some senators were dragged into the issue and the upper chamber had a shakeup, Sen. Ping Lacson took the chairmanship.
However, recently, Sen. Ping Lacson resigned from being the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman. According to Senate Pres. Tito Sotto, the Senator is ‘frustrated’ over the remarks of their colleagues regarding the Senate flood probe and he understands his side “to some extent”. There were five (5) candidates for the possition.
Senate Pres. Tito Sotto announced that senators JV Ejercito, Kiko Pangilinan, Pia Cayetano, Risa Hontiveros, and Raffy Tulfo are the five (5) senators who are candidates for the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairmanship. However, three (3) of them immediately expressed refusal to accept the leadership of the panel.
According to Sen. JV Ejercito, he knows his limitation and another senator may be able to lead the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Senators Kiko Pangilinan and Raffy Tulfo also declined to accept the post citing their pursuit to focus on the committees that they already handle. Each of them got three (3) Senate committees already.
The refusal of the three (3) male senators left the race between senators Risa Hontiveros and Pia Cayetano. It was after then that Senate Pres. Tito Sotto announced that Sen. Erwin Tulfo is now among the candidates for the Senate Blue Ribbon chairmanship. He was appointed as the acting chairman of the committee.
Recently, based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Sen. Pia Cayetano also expressed her willingness to lead the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. She was the chairperson of the investigative panel from January 2024 to June 2025.
According to Senate Pres. Tito Sotto, the members will talk and decide on who between Sen. Pia Cayetano and Sen. Erwin Tulfo will be the permanent chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Based on the report, the Senate Chief said he already ordered Tulfo who is the committee’s vice chairman to call for a meeting when he returns from an official trip abroad.
“We’ll discuss it one of these days because as soon as Sen. Erwin Tulfo arrives from his official trip abroad, IPU actually, Inter-Parliamentary Union, we will be calling, he will be calling and I asked him to call for a meeting of the committee, the Blue Ribbon Committee,” the Senate President said.
Sotto was asked if Cayetano will be prioritized for the position. According to the Senate President, he will not decide alone but he, together with the members, will discuss the matter.
Amid the corruption issues in the Philippines, Sen. Erwin Tulfo recently proposed a one-month income tax holiday.