PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY | Senate picks first woman senator to lead Blue Ribbon panel

January 22, 2024 , 08:52 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(January 22, 2024) – In an unprecedented move, senators on Monday chose a woman as chair of its powerful anti-graft panel to look into wrongdoings in the government.

Senator Pia Cayetano made history as the first female to head the Blue Ribbon Committee in more than 100 years.

She replaced Senator Francis Tolentino who resigned as chair of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations on the same day. Tolentino would concentrate on his re-election bid in the Senate next year.

The Majority floor leader, Joel Villanueva, moved for Cayetano to lead the so-called “Blue Ribbon Committee” at the plenary session.

The panel members kept their seats. Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Christopher “Bong” Go, and Cayetano’s brother, Alan Peter Cayetano sit as vice-chairpersons of the anti-graft committee.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III hailed her election as the first woman to lead the powerful panel.

“Actually, it’s a fact that Senator Pia Cayetano, a distinguished colleague, will be the first female chairperson of the Blue Ribbon Committee on the Senate in its 106 years in existence,” Zubiri said. “We are very honored that Senator Pia Cayetano is the new chairperson.”

Villanueva, in a statement, said he and his colleagues are confident that Cayetano is “up to the task of leading the committee with accountability and transparency.”

Last month, Tolentino confirmed he was resigning from the post, citing his agreement with the Senate leadership to only serve the panel for a year and a half.

He also cited his plans to focus on his reelection bid in the 2025 midterm elections, as well as on his responsibilities as chairman of the special committee on maritime and admiralty zones in the Upper House amid growing tensions with China over the disputed South China Sea.

Based on Senate rules, the Blue Ribbon committee holds jurisdiction over legislative inquiries into allegations of malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance against government officials and workers, as well as matters regarding the implementation of the 1987 Constitution’s provision on nepotism.

Coincidentally, Cayetano’s senator brother previously led the Blue Ribbon panel from 2007 to 2008 during the term of then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. At that time, he led a high-profile legislative inquiry into alleged irregularities in the construction contract awarded to a Chinese telecommunications firm for the national broadband network (NBN).

(MM | With reports from Marie Ann Los Baños, News5)

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