MANILA, Philippines — What is it about heading a committee that prompted President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies to shake up the Senate before they could even officially assume office?
Nothing much, according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has chaired various committees in his 15 years in the Senate.
Save for an opportunity to influence the passage of legislation and control of a relatively small budget for operations, Lacson said, leading a Senate committee does not make a senator more special than the rest of the lawmakers in the 24-member chamber.
Not measure of ability
“I don’t really know. I also don’t understand that,” Lacson told the Inquirer on Sunday when asked why some junior senators seemed to be eager to lead key Senate committees.
“The ability of a senator cannot be measured by being a chairman of a committee. Even if you are a chair but you don’t do your own research, it will be difficult for you to defend or sponsor a measure [in the plenary],” he said.
“When you defend a committee report on the floor or when sponsoring a bill, you really have to do your homework. If not, it could do damage to you [when you fail after being grilled by other senators],” he added.
Lacson and several senior senators have been stridently opposed to the moves of Senators-elect Imee Marcos and Francis Tolentino to install reelected Sen. Cynthia Villar as Senate President, replacing Sen. Vicente Sotto III in the chamber’s leadership in the 18th Congress.
He said Marcos had already apologized to Sotto for causing a stir and pointed to Tolentino as the one who first broached the idea of changing leaders.
Pressed about the duties and perks of a Senate committee chair, Lacson said senators were usually given a budget of P3.2 million each for the operating expenses of their committees.
He said Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon issued an order when he was Senate president under the Aquino administration that fixed the budget for each senator no matter how many committees they headed.
Previously, he said senators heading a congressional oversight committee received as much as P30 million in annual budget.
“Now the situation is different after Drilon equalized all the budget during his time [as Senate president]. No matter how many committees you have, you will get the same budget,” Lacson said. “Even if you chair 10 Senate committees, you will still get P3.2 million.”
Asked if the access to funds could be a motivation for a senator to lead a committee, Lacson said: “I really don’t know. I cannot speak for the others. But in the past, it’s among the considerations.”
Influence
Lacson explained that some senators were interested in heading committees to influence particular government departments or sectors, and to pursue their own legislative advocacies.
“When you are a committee chair, you control the pace of the passage of the bill because it’s you who decide when to calendar it for a hearing,” he said.
Of all the 38 committees, Lacson said the blue ribbon may be considered the “most powerful” because it could initiate an investigation even without a resolution or referral from the body.