Following the May 11 leadership change in the Senate, a graphic posted on Facebook claims to show a list of new committee chairpersons chosen by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano for certain permanent committees in the chamber. This is inaccurate.
The graphic, published by an FB user on May 18, displayed photos of seven senators alongside their supposed committee assignments, with some lawmakers allegedly handling more than one panel. The list includes:
- Sen. Robinhood Padilla – Committee on Basic and Higher Education, Technical and Vocational Education
- Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa – Committee on Justice and Human Rights
- Sen. Jinggoy Estrada – Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies
- Sen. Mark Villar – Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform
- Sen. Camille Villar – Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement
- Sen. Loren Legarda – Committee on Energy, Solar, Science and Technology
- Sen. Rodante Marcoleta – Committee on Foreign Relations, National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation
A page reposted the fraudulent graphic on the same day.
When a majority of the 24-member Senate ousted Vicente Sotto III and installed Cayetano as the chamber’s president, only Dela Rosa was immediately elected as chair of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, contrary to what the FB posts claimed.
The chairpersons of various Senate committees were announced only during the May 18 session, after the chamber convened as an impeachment court for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, contradicting all claims in the spurious graphic.
The Villar siblings were not even among the senators named as new chairpersons of any committee as of press time. Meanwhile, Sen. Bong Go, who will now head two panels, including health and demography in place of Sen. Risa Hontiveros, is not on the false list.
The list with untrue claims surfaced a week after the May 11 Senate leadership shakeup that installed a new majority, whose members now hold the chairmanships of key committees including health, education, public services, ways and means and national defense.
Notably, the chairman of the powerful Blue Ribbon Committee, which is looking into the multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal, has not yet been named. In an interview after the May 18 plenary session, Cayetano said they are eyeing either Marcoleta or his elder sister Pia, to lead the panel.
The posts by an FB user and page MMS ATBP (created on March 21, 2018 as Mega Manila Subway) carrying the erroneous graphic have collectively received 725 interactions.
