Detained Senators Estrada, Marcoleta receive Senate committee chairmanships

Detained senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta were elected to head two Senate committees on Wednesday as the chamber continued reorganizing its leadership following the opening of the second regular session of the 20th Congress.

Estrada was chosen to chair the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms after Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente "Tito" Sotto III relinquished the position. Sotto was later elected chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Works.

"I give it up [for Senator Jinggoy]," Sotto told reporters in a chance interview.

"It is a rule in the Senate that aside from the Office of the Senator, each senator needs to have a committee. The committee budget is where the senator’s employees draw their salaries," he added.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said both Estrada and Marcoleta remain members of the Senate despite being under detention and are therefore still entitled to committee assignments.

Referring to Estrada, Gatchalian said, "He is still a senator and a member of the Senate minority, so members of the minority will still be given committees."

He added that the committee's vice chairperson would oversee its operations while Estrada remains unable to attend Senate proceedings.

"There is also a vice chairperson who can run the committee. In that sense, the vice chairperson will run the committee," Gatchalian said.

Estrada has been detained at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas since June after the Sandiganbayan ordered his arrest over a non-bailable plunder case alleging he received ₱573 million in kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects. He has denied the accusations.

Marcoleta, meanwhile, was elected chairperson of the Senate Committee on Tourism. He has been under detention since July 6 after the Sandiganbayan found probable cause to proceed with a plunder case accusing him of receiving ₱75 million in alleged illegal campaign donations during the 2025 senatorial elections. He has also denied the allegations.

It remained unclear whether Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who has stayed out of public view amid reports of a standing arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, would likewise receive a committee chairmanship.

Also on Wednesday, Senator Imee Marcos was named deputy Senate minority leader.