AT least five senators are being considered to succeed Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson as chairperson of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, following his formal resignation on Monday.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III confirmed on Tuesday that discussions have begun on Lacson’s possible replacement.
“For me, whoever is recommended by Senator Lacson would have a very strong edge over anybody else,” Sotto said in an interview.
He mentioned several possible successors, including Senators JV Ejercito, Raffy Tulfo, Pia Cayetano, Francis Pangilinan, and Risa Hontiveros.
“Those four are all viable, even Risa is a possibility,” Sotto noted, adding that the Senate majority bloc would convene on Wednesday to deliberate on the matter.
Cayetano previously chaired the Blue Ribbon Committee during the leadership of then Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
Sotto revealed he had tried to dissuade Lacson from stepping down but admitted it would be difficult to change his mind after he had already submitted his resignation letter.
In his letter to Sotto, Lacson cited “disappointment” among several senators over the direction of the committee’s probe into alleged anomalies in flood control projects.
He wrote that some senators believed he was “zeroing in” on certain colleagues while “protecting” members of the House of Representatives accused of being behind substandard and ghost flood control projects.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. This narrative is categorically false,” Lacson said, defending the integrity of his leadership.