Majority senators take over Senate committee chairmanships
The Senate has announced a new initial list of chairpersons for different committees for the 20th Congress after 13 senators voted to declare all seats vacant.
This overhaul came after Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano was elected Senate President on May 11, following a 13-9-2 vote.
The first batch of chairmanships was made official on May 18, after the Senate convened as the impeachment court for Vice President Sara Duterte's trial.
So far, majority senators took over the roles of minority senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Raffy and Erwin Tulfo, who were appointed as vice chairpersons in their previously chaired committees.
Read on below for the new list of the 20th Congress Senate committee chairmanships so far.
- Basic Education
Chairperson: Loren Legarda with Bam Aquino as Vice Chairperson
Jurisdiction: Early childhood care and education, pre-school to secondary education, science and sports high schools, teachers and students welfare, scholarships, grants, subsidies, national language, establishment and maintenance of libraries - Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs
Chairperson: Robinhood Padilla (retained)
Jurisdiction: Preservation, development of culture, traditions, institutions, and the well-being of indigenous peoples and Muslim Filipinos - Energy
Chairperson: Pia Cayetano (retained)
Jurisdiction: Exploration, exploitation, development, extraction, importation, refining, transport, marketing, distribution, conservation, or storage of all forms of energy products - Games and Amusement
Chairperson: Jinggoy Estrada with Erwin Tulfo as Vice Chairperson
Jurisdiction: Casinos, Lotteries, Jai-alai, and horse-racing - Health and Demography
Chairperson: Bong Go with Risa Hontiveros as Vice Chairperson
Jurisdiction: Public health, general, medical, hospital, and quarantine services, and population issues - Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education
Chairperson: Joel Villanueva with Loren Legarda as Vice Chairperson
Jurisdiction: Post-secondary and tertiary education, technical education, distance education, vocational education, scholarships, grants, and subsidies - National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification, and Reconciliation
Chairperson: Jinggoy Estrada with Loren Legarda as Vice Chairperson
Jurisdiction: National defense, internal and external threats to national security, peace, internal armed conflict resolution, political negotiation, amnesty, rebel returnees, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, pension plans and benefits of war veterans and military retirees, civil defense, and military research and development - Public Information and Mass Media
Chairperson: Robinhood Padilla (retained)
Jurisdiction: Implementation of provisions of the Constitution regarding ownership and management of mass media and advertising, development and promotion of information technology, artistic standards, and quality of the motion picture and TV industry - Public Services
Chairperson: Rodante Marcoleta with Raffy Tulfo as Vice Chairperson
Jurisdiction: Service and utilities, public transportation, inter-island navigation, lighthouses, grant or amendment of legislative franchises - Ways and Means
Chairperson: Sen. Pia Cayetano (retained)
Jurisdiction: Revenue, taxes and fees, tariffs, loans
Cayetano took over the role of Senate President from Sen. Tito Sotto after a coup on May 11. Sen. Bato dela Rosa, who has been absent from Senate hearings since November 2025 attended to make his vote count.
During the voting, JV Ejercito and Migz Zubiri abstained, but during the May 18 Senate session, they declared that they were aligning with the minority.
The Senate shakeup came as the House of Representatives impeached Duterte.
