Sixteen senators voted in favor of Pacquiao’s motion, four were against it while two abstained.
The four who voted against the motion were Drilon, Hontiveros and Senators Bam Aquino and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Drilon, Aquino and Pangilinan are members of the Liberal Party, while Hontiveros belongs to the Akbayan partylist group but she ran under the LP-led slate during the last May 2016 elections.
During the voting, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto manifested that the minority bloc would not take part in the voting, saying the issue should be resolved among the majority group.
After the voting, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III immediately moved to elect “reluctant” Gordon as new head of the committee and Senator Panfilo Lacson as vice chairman.
Senators Pacquiao, Pangilinan, de Lima, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Grace Poe, Alan Cayetano were also elected members of the committee. /rga/ac