BAGAMA’T itinalaga si Senator Erwin Tulfo para maging officer in charge ng Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) sa ngayon, nakunan ng pahayag si Senator Pia Cayetano tungkol sa pamumuno ng BRC sa isang ambush interview.
Ito ay matapos magbitiw ni Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson nitong Lunes, Oktubre 6, 2025.
Bukod kay Sen Pia Cayetano, nasa short list din sina JV Ejercito, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, at ang kapatid ni Erwin na si Raffy Tulfo. Narito ang naging panayam.
Q: Are you considering the offer to chair the BRC?
PSC: I don’t know if it’s a formal offer. I just saw my name, as many of you have seen. We have a very, I would say easygoing relationship naman. I have an easygoing relationship, professional but easygoing relationship with the Senate President. So we just chatted about it in caucus today. I just saw my name.
He also knows that I am very much dedicated to the committees that I currently chair, and there’s a lot of work in those two committees, well actually, three yun, pero the two major committees are energy and ways and means.
So, in that sense, hindi madaling umoo sa mga ganyang bagong posisyon. And because my name was mentioned, eh di it’s my job to consider it, d iba? Twenty-four lang naman kami. And then lima lang naman kaming abogado. So gustuhin ko man o hindi, it’s my job to consider it if there is a need to chair the Committee on Blue Ribbon. Having said that, mabigat yung trabaho na yun, I already have two other committees. So I will use this time na walang session to pray about it and to think about it kung maha-handle ko siya. Kasi kaya ko, wala akong doubt na kaya ko, wala akong doubt that I can do a good job, with all humility naman. But I really want the best person for the job to handle this kasi this is a defining moment for the Filipino people. So importante talagang pag-isipan ng husto kung paano iha-handle ang Blue Ribbon Committee.
Q: Mas mabigat ba siya given that the issue is about flood control anomalies?
PSC: Tingin ko mabigat talaga, oo, mabigat. Kasi wala akong, if naaalala niyo, well, I’ve been a senator for how many terms na. Nung hinandle ko yung Blue Ribbon Committee for about a year, wala namang ganito kabigat na issue na nailapit. Syempre para sa akin, yung na-handle ko mabibigat din yun dahil kasama doon sa nahawakan ko yung issue ng mga fake birth certificates. Malalim din naman na mga issue yun. Pero malalim na malalim itong issue ng flood control anomalies, especially since we are in the budget season. So as we speak, ngayon, next week, two weeks from now, puro budget ang nasa agenda ko. And so very careful natin ginagawa yung trabaho natin.
It didn’t really change, as far as I am concerned. Same din naman yung trabaho. Pero yung pagpapaliwanag lang sa taumbayan para naiintindihan nila what it entails during the budget seasons. We make amendments, mga kababayan. Trabaho namin yun. So Vice Chairman ako ng Committee on Finance, and it’s my job to review the budgets that are under me, and it’s my job to propose amendments. Kasama po yun sa trabaho.
Q: May iiwan po kayong committee just in case you chair BRC?
PSC: So, yun na nga. Kasi ayoko sanang mag-give up because those are committees that are very important for me. Nahawakan ko na rin ang Ways and Means before, and then yung Committee on Energy, I was the Chairman the previous year, in the previous Congress. So naumpisahan ko na yung trabaho. So, hindi ko gusto basta-basta bitawan.
But yung sa Ways and Means, so far, si DOF, sabi naman niya, wala silang major changes. Ibig sabihin, hindi naman mabigat ang trabaho kasi nung hinawakan ko yun, andaming bagong bills the first time I handled it in the 18th Congress. Andaming bills.
Q: Once you decide to chair the BRC, will you immediately pursue the investigation of previous chairpersons?
PSC: I think it is the duty of the Senate as a body to decide what is the role of the Blue Ribbon Committee. As far as I know, the last time I read, ang role naman talaga ng Blue Ribbon Committee, like any committee in the Senate, is in aid of legislation. So whether more hearings are required would be usually left to the decision of the Chairperson naman. So I would review, kung kinakailangan pa, kasi ang goal ko is in aid of legislation. Because we have our own investigative bodies, by law, in the country that are supposed to pursue actions. Kung may criminal actions na kailangan, may mga bodies naman that are charged with those tasks.
Q: Does a chairman need to be a lawyer?
PSC: For me, there are advantages of lawyers dahil of course, pinag-aralan namin yun, and we do use legal principles and procedures with a suppletory effect. Pero yung mga seasoned legislators like Sen. Lacson, kayang kaya naman nila yun. Kapag baguhan, I would express lang na siguro not the same ang experience. Like somebody nga like Sen. Lacson or Sen. Sotto na matatagal nang andyan, syempre nabawi nila sa experience yung hindi naman nila napag-aralan, unlike a lawyer.
Q: Did you tell SP during the caucus that you will pray about the offer?
PSC: Oo, actually marami akong sinabihang I’ll pray. Kasi maraming nagtatanong. Sabi ko, pag-pray niyo ako. So si Secretary Garin, for your info, nandito tayo dahil tuloy-tuloy ang mga hearings natin, sabi ko, “dumeretso ka na lang sa Baclaran. Huwag ka munang bumalik sa opisina mo.”
[On SP’s response] Eh di okay, prayerful din naman siya, di support naman yung desisyon ko na magdasal kaming lahat.
Q: Did they give you a deadline to decide?
PSC: Wala naman kasi, I think because from what I understand, the way every committee in the Senate works, we have vice chairpersons, di ba? So the vice chairpersons can take charge when the chairperson is unavailable or in this case, nag-resign. Pwede naman mag-take charge ang vice chairperson. So there is no urgency to appoint a permanent or new chairperson. Meron naman tayong process.
Q: Okay naman na si Sen. Erwin muna, baguhan at hindi po lawyer?
PSC: Well, wala naman akong say doon because it’s our process. Kaya ka nga vice chairperson kasi iko-continue mo yung trabaho ng chairperson.
Q: Sa lahat ng pinagpipilian, kayo lang po ba ang open to accepting?
PSC: Hindi, sinabi ko din sa the rest, mag-pray din sila. Hindi naman dapat ako lang, 24 kami di ba? At hindi ko sinasabing ako lang, bakit si Kiko, abogado din naman siya, may experience din naman siya.
Q: Currently, 50-50 po ba, 60-40?
PSC: Wala, nasa Diyos na yan. Kahit naman sabihin kong .001 percent lang. Kasi kung gusto ko itong kunin, di kinuha ko na dapat ito from before dahil ako naman yung Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman in the last Congress, diba? Ibig sabihin, nag-choose na ako na iba yung committee ko, di ba? Yun na yun, eh. So kahit sabihin mong .001 lang, kapag ginusto ng Diyos na ilagay mo sa puso mo yun at trabahuhin mo yun, di tatrabahuhin mo yun. Marami akong ginawa na hindi ko man ginusto eh kailangan gawin dahil trabaho.
Q: Kapag kinuha niyo po, wala kayo igi-give up na committees?
PSC: If you ask me, kasama yan sa mga dasal, pero if you ask me, ayokong mag-give up kasi I am very excited to support the improvement of the energy sector. I am so excited about it. We just came from a hearing, since 11 o’clock yan nag-umpisa, andaming excitement. Sa Ways and Means naman, although wala daw bagong proposal for new taxes ang gobyerno, meron akong mga proposal para ibaba ang taxes. Ba’t ko naman aayawan yung mga committee na yun na ang sarap sa puso trabahuhin, di ba? Okay? Thank you.
Q: Pang-ilang committee niyo na po?
PSC: I have two major committees and then the SDGs. Si SDG naman supports all of the committees naman, so it’s not naman major work. Mula sa ulat ng Senate of the Philippines