Pimentel nixes hints to join majority
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:11:00 11/20/2008
Filed Under: Politics, Congress
MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has rejected offers to join the majority bloc in exchange for committee chairmanships.
“Insinuations had been dropped for me to chair this or that committee with the implication of a corresponding change in my stand [on issues],” Pimentel said in a statement.
“I said no and that ‘no’ is spelled [with] two letters, not in five -- maybe,” he pointed out.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson told reporters Wednesday that the committee on foreign affairs now chaired by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was being offered to Pimentel.
But at a press conference Thursday, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile said Santiago had written him asking if she could stay as head of the committee.
Enrile said he has yet to consult the new majority bloc on the matter.
While there have been no formal offers to join the majority, Pimentel said there had been insinuations that he immediately turned down.
“I am not in for any deals. I will make my choices free of any personal considerations or positions that might come my way. So that’s how it is and that’s how it will be,” he said.
Pimentel reiterated that he would stay an oppositionist within the new minority group unless it decides otherwise.
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