Noy’s allies secure plum Senate committee chairmanships

MANILA, Philippines - Senators belonging to the administration coalition bagged the chairmanships of some of the most sought after committees in the Senate during the first round of assignments yesterday.

Three of the neophyte senators who ran under the administration’s Team PNoy coalition – Senators Grace Poe, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Cynthia Villar – were among first to be given committee assignments.

Poe, the topnotcher in last May’s elections, was given the committees on public information and mass media and public order and illegal drugs.

As a former chief of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board and the daughter of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., she’s a natural for the committee on public information and mass media.

In recognition of the role played by Sen. Gregorio Honasan in heading the committee on public order and illegal drugs, Poe said she would like to tap him as her vice chairman.

Villar, on the other hand, was given the committee on agriculture, which was her main preference and one of the most sought after committees in the Senate.

Aquino, the youngest member of the Senate, would handle the committee on trade and commerce, also among his preferred committees, considering his familiarity with the sector of entrepreneurship.

Sen. Francis Escudero would head the committee on education while Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV would take over the committee on national defense and security.

Sen. Manuel Lapid would retain the chairmanship of the committee on tourism while Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. would continue to head the committee on public services.

Revilla, who has been critical of the administration for some time, voted for Sen. Franklin Drilon as Senate President, thus securing his place in the majority bloc.

Sources, however, revealed Revilla would no longer be given the chairmanship of the committee on public works, a post he has held since he became senator.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, meanwhile, would head the committee on justice and human rights and would be representing the Senate in the Judicial and Bar Council.

No other committee chairmanships were announced yesterday as these were still being worked out by the Senate leadership and the majority bloc.

Drilon said there was nothing unusual or new about the distribution of the key committees among the members of the majority bloc.