Broadcast journalist and incoming senator Raffy Tulfo is set to lead the Senate Committee on Energy, according to Senate majority leader Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, who is poised to become the next Senate President.
Tulfo, who placed third in the 2022 senatorial race after garnering 23,396,954 votes, will be taking over the energy committee in the 19th Congress. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, whom Tulfo will replace, will be leading the Committee on Basic Education and the Committee on Ways and Means after winning another six-year term.
Under Gatchalian’s wing, the Senate energy committee led in the investigation of the controversial sale of the majority stake of the Malampaya gas-to-power project to Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation, which led to the recommendation of civil and criminal charges against Department of Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi and other officials for “railroading” the sale.
Gatchalian was also the proponent of several key energy-related measures, such as Republic Act (RA) 11646 or the Microgrid Systems Act and RA 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act, which were passed into law in January and April, respectively.
In the January episode of Power Podcast, Gatchalian recommended the use of small modular reactors rather than reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant should the country tap into nuclear power.
Tulfo will also be leading the committee on overseas Filipino workers, which has yet to be created in the next Congress. The senatorial bets who won in the election last May will begin their terms at noon on June 30.
Photo from Raffy Tulfo in Action YouTube Channel