By GMA News Published June 2, 2026 11:23pm + Add GMA on Google Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google. Senator Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday accused Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano of being "pretentious" in defending the current composition of the Blue Ribbon Committee, which is chaired by his sister, Sen, Pia Cayetano.In an interview on "24 Oras," Tulfo suggested that Cayetano's real concern is the possibility of losing the Senate presidency amid the chamber's 11-11 split.“Ayaw niya lang sabihin na baka maagaw sa kanya yung Senate presidency. Doon po siya kinakabahan dahil 11-11 nga po. Doon naman po sa hearing sa Thursday, open po kami. Mag-imbita lang po siya, darating yung ilang miyembro ng minority. Hindi naman kami kokontra,” he said in an interview on “24 Oras.”(He just doesn't want to admit that the Senate presidency might be taken away from him. That is what makes him nervous because it is currently tied at 11-11. As for the hearing on Thursday, we are open to it. He just needs to invite us, and some members of the minority will show up. We won't oppose it.)Minority senators earlier denied attempting to stop the Blue Ribbon Committee from resuming its legislative inquiry into the alleged flood control mess on Thursday, June 4.Cayetano even invited the minority senators for a meeting on Wednesday to address their doubts about the upcoming hearing.For his part, Tulfo believes that Cayetano is being insincere, noting that he did not attend the earlier hearings by the Blue Ribbon and did not sign the chairman’s report.“Parang hindi ko maintindihan, para namang pretentious, mapagkunwari, nagbabalat kayo si Senator Cayetano. Eh nung Blue Ribbon hearing, member siya, ex-officio, dahil Minority Leader siya, ni minsan po hindi siya umattend,” he said.(I can't seem to understand it; Senator Cayetano seems pretentious, hypocritical, and putting on a facade. During the previous Blue Ribbon hearings, he was a member ex-officio because he was the Minority Leader, but he didn't attend even once.)“Ex-officio siya, dapat pumirma sa chairman’s report, hindi siya pumirma kasi ilan sa kasamahan niya ay tatamaan sa Blue Ribbon. True enough, ayun yung mga kumampi sa kanya, yung may kaso po, kinampihan siya kaya siya naging Senate President,” Tulfo added.(He is an ex-officio member, so he should have signed the chairman’s report, but he didn't sign it because some of his allies would be hit by the Blue Ribbon investigation. True enough, those were the ones who sided with him—the ones with active cases sided with him, which is why he became Senate President.)When asked if the minority bloc plans to take over the Blue Ribbon panel, Tulfo said that Cayetano has nothing to worry about.“Wala po, wala kaming numero. 11 lang kami, kailangan namin 12, 13 po, lalo na yung Senate presidency. Ano ba kinakatakot niya? Habang wala kaming number, 11 lang kami, Senate President Cayetano safe ka na,” he said.(We have no such plans, we don't have the numbers. We are only 11, we need 12 or 13, especially for the Senate presidency. What is he so afraid of? As long as we don't have the numbers and we remain at just 11, Senate President Cayetano, you are safe.) —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA News