By K. Ericson Sayee
As the rigmarole deepens at the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Committee on Rules, Order, and Administration, Bong Co. District #2, Hon. James Kolleh, says he is ready to leave as Chairman on Rules, Order, and Administration if his colleagues have 49 signatures to remove him.
Kolleh expressed astonishment for the appearance of his name in the latest meeting of the “Reformist Lawmakers”, after previously hearing that their grievances were targeting the Speaker and his Deputy.
Speaking to legislative reporters on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, on the grounds of the Capitol Building, the Bong County Representative considered his service at the lower chambers on committee as a “privilege” and not what he called an “entitlement” to serve as the Chair on the committee on Rules, Order and Administration.
“If they have the requisite number of 49 persons, I am ready to leave. This place is a political theater and I know that very well. I see my service to my colleagues as an opportunity –it is a privilege”, Rep. Kolleh noted.
He added: “So, if the colleagues deem it necessary that they no longer need my service, all I will say is ‘glory be to God”.
Commenting on the claims of owing gas slips for his colleagues, Kolleh challenged the information as untrue, revealing that since his ascendency as Chairman on Rules, Order and Administration committee, he disclosed that no lawmaker is owed their benefits relating to gasoline and fuel.
Before ascending to the chairmanship, according to him, there used to be a loud noise in every facet of the building, but he disclosed that issue is now the matter of the past, as he ensures in disbursing his colleagues slips without favoring and delaying when they are available.
Kolleh however said his presence today is to hear the concerns of his colleagues and is not intended to claim right to leadership at the House of Representatives.
His response comes in amid reports that the aggrieved lawmakers have added him and the Ways, Means, and Finance Chair Hon. P. Mike Jurry to counts, calling for their removal from those respective committees as chairpersons.