AT LEAST three allies of former President Benigno Aquino III were elected Wednesday night as heads of influential committees in the House of Representatives.
House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, in plenary, named Rep. Reynaldo Umali as head of the House committee on justice that handles impeachment cases.
Umali headed the House committee on energy in the 16th Congress and is a known rabid ally of Manuel Roxas II, the Liberal Party’s standard bearer in the May 9 elections.
Rep. Henedina Abad, wife of former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, was elected head of the House committee on government reorganization. She was the House deputy speaker for Luzon in the last Congress.
Rep. Kaka Bag-ao of Dinagat Island, who used to be an Akbayan party-list allied with the Aquino administration, was tapped as head of the House committee on people’s participation.
Also elected were Reps. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental, head of the House committee on urban development; Nancy Catamco of North Cotabato, head of the committee on indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples; Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna, head of natural resources; Peter Unabia of Misamis Oriental, head of the committee on small business and entrepreneurship; Randolf Ting of Cagayan, head of the committee on labor and employment, Rep. Cesar Sarmiento of Catanduanes, head of the committee on transportation; and Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil of Pangasinan, head of the committee on veterans affairs and welfare.
Some more administration congressmen were named as new committee heads in the House.
Fariñas named Reps. Arthur Yap of Bohol as head of the House committee on economic affairs; Evelina Escudero of Sorsogon, head of the basic education and culture committee; Marlyn Primicias-Agabas of Pangasinan, head of the revision of laws committee; Jose Panganiban Jr., agriculture.committee; Jesus Sacdalan, head of government enterprises and privatization; Angelina Tan of Quezon, head of the health committee; Pedro Acharon of South Cotabato, head of local government; Deogracias Ramos of Sorsogon, head of rural development; Eleanor Bulut Begtang of Apayao, head of welfare of children; Emmie Calixto-Rubiano of Pasay City, head of bases conversion; Ruby Sahali of Tawi-Tawi, head of peace, reconciliation and unity; Noel Villanueva of Tarlac, head of reforestation; and Isidro Rodriguez of Rizal, head of Southern Tagalog development.
These lawmakers are members of the so-called supermajority of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, secretary-general of the now ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan led by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The House is expected to announce in the coming days the names of other lawmakers who will fill up the 58 standing and 12 special committees in the House, including Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting who is expected to head the games and amusements committee.Last Monday night, Fariñas named the new heads of the most powerful committees in the lower chamber: Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles as head of the House committee on appropriations; Lord Allan Velasco of Marinduque, committee on energy; Franz Alvarez of Palawan, committee on legislative franchise; Lucy Torres-Gomez of Leyte, committee on tourism; and Ronaldo Zamora of San Juan, House contingent head for the majority bloc of the Committee on Appointments.
Similarly, Reps. Elenita Ermita-Buhain of Batangas was named head of the committee on accounts while Romeo Acop of Antipolo City was tapped to lead the committee on public order and safety.
Meanwhile, House deputy speaker and Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo confirmed Wednesday that a special committee on the West Philippine Sea has already been created to help the national government in crafting policies on how the controversial sea dispute will be best handled by the government.
Quimbo also said the creation of the said committee that is expected to be headed by former speaker and Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. was not a “political accommodation.”
“In fact, the House has to expand in numbers in terms of committee chairmanships since its members are also expanding,” Quimbo said.