DABAWENYO Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa are among nine lawmakers elected to represent the Senate in the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA), following a plenary session on Monday, August 18, 2025.
The other senators chosen were JV Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Raffy Tulfo, Joel Villanueva, and Mark Villar. Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who serves as the commission’s ex officio chair, announced their election.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano temporarily withdrew his nomination to give way to minority representation in the CA.
“I will withdraw for today and then maybe in a day or two, the minority will be able to also, with us, come up with a consensus on the right representation of the 12-member, 12-man and woman contingent of the Senate, plus of course the Senate President as the chair of the Commission on Appointments,” Cayetano explained.
The move came after Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III questioned why 10 senators from the majority bloc were included in the commission.
“The last word I know is that the Supreme Court has decided that if there’s controversy in the composition... it is very clear that the Senate must follow the party lines and the party representation,” Sotto said. “So if this body elects to follow the SC decision on the articles of impeachment, why can’t they follow the decision of the SC when it comes to computation of membership in CA?”
Sotto added that the five-man minority bloc had been expecting “more cooperation or better treatment” from the majority.
For his part, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva defended the composition, explaining that his computation was based on the 80–20 representation formula between the majority and minority blocs.
“80% of 12 members would be equal to 9.6 members, which may be rounded up to 10 members. 20% of 12 members would equal 2.4 members which rounded out to 2,” Villanueva said.
Under Article VI, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution, the Commission on Appointments is composed of the Senate President as chair, 12 senators, and 12 members of the House of Representatives elected based on proportional party representation. The CA serves as a constitutional check by confirming or rejecting appointments made by the President of the Philippines.
According to its official website, the CA’s role “forms part of the very delicate mechanism of checks and balances established by the Constitution to ensure that the coordinate departments of the government will function in a way that will be most conducive to the public welfare.” DEF