De Lima Dethroned From Senate Justice Committee Chair

Senator Leila de Lima was ousted as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice, following the motion made by Senator Manny Pacquiao, asking the Senate to declare the committee vacant, despite the committee's recent conduct of investigation on the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country since the assumption to office of President Rodrigo Duterte.

De Lima was replaced by Senator Richard Gordon, as the committee's panel head.

The motion was objected by Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon, which prompted to the suspension of the session and the holding of a senators’ caucus.

However, when the session resumed, they immediately put to a vote the motion, with Drilon's objection that was also seconded by neophyte Senator Risa Hontiveros.

“We register our objection. We believe there’s no basis for the motion,” Drilon said while Hontiveros said that, “On behalf of Akbayan party, I respectfully register my objection.”

With such objections, the chamber was divided and Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III made the roll call of votes.

Sixteen senators voted in favor of Pacquiao’s motion, four were against it while two abstained.

Aside from Drilon and Hontiveros, Senators Bam Aquino and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan were also against Pacquiao's motion. They are members of the Liberal Party, while Hontiveros belongs to the Akbayan partylist group but she ran under the LP-led slate during the last May 2016 elections.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, during the voting, manifested that the minority bloc would not take part in the voting, claiming that the issue should be resolved among the majority group.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III immediately moved to elect Gordon as new head of the committee despite being reluctant about it. Senator Panfilo Lacson serve as the committee's vice chairman.

Pacquiao, Pangilinan, de Lima, Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Grace Poe, and Alan Cayetano were also elected members of the committee.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer