Sotto not keen on heading any Senate committee

Senator Vicente Sotto III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Vicente Sotto III does not want to head any committee in the Senate, he said Monday after the election of new officers during the formal opening of the 16th Congress.

Sotto was the Senate Majority Floor leader in the 15th Congress along with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile as the Senate President and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada as the Senate President Pro-Tempore.

Senator Franklin Drilon was elected as the new Senate President garnering 17 votes along with Senator Ralph Recto as the President Pro-Tempore and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as Majority Floor Leader.

Sotto, Enrile, and Estrada will comprise the new Senate minority bloc along with senators Nancy Binay, Joseph Victor Ejercito, and Gregorio Honasan.

“As a group, most of the members of the minority would assess the available committees that would be given to the members of the minority,” Sotto told reporters in an ambush interview Monday after the Senate suspended session around noon.

“But as far as I am concerned, on a personal note, I am not inclined or I will not accept any chairmanship to the committees,” he said.

When asked why, Sotto cited “personal reasons.” He did not elaborate.

“I think I will be more effective if I am not chairing any particular committee,” he added.

Sotto said however that newly-elected Senate President Franklin Drilon has not yet offered any committees.

“Nothing has been offered yet, it’s still under discussions. Nothing is concrete yet,” he said.

“We have talked about it before when he asked [and] I already told him that I’m not going to accept any committee,” Sotto said.

Estrada said in a separate interview that he has already submitted to Drilon a list of preferred committees of the minority bloc. He said that newly-installed Senate President has committed to giving back to Estrada his labor committee and another for Honasan.

“We do not have the right to ask for a committee because we already belong to the minority bloc,” Estrada said. “We will not be a destructive minority. We will not be a deterrent to the bills specially prioritized by the administration.”

When asked about the new minority, Sotto said that they will be more active in fiscalizing in the Senate.

“We’ll be very available for any fiscalization that is necessary. We will be a very active minority,” Sotto said. “If something is out of place we will definitely by very strict.”