Senate minority won’t block Lacson’s return
Sen. Robin Padilla expressed on Monday his support for the impending return of Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson as chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which has been investigating anomalous flood control projects.
Padilla conceded that the nine-man minority bloc has no authority to reinstate Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who served as chair of the powerful committee before Lacson replaced him following a change in the Senate leadership in September.
“While I know that our fellow countrymen in the minority bloc favor Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, we cannot insist on our preference because the minority does not have the authority to appoint the chairperson of the committee,” he said in a Facebook post.
“We in the minority bloc do not have the ability to reinstate Senator Rodante Marcoleta as chair of the blue ribbon committee because we lack the numbers. There are only nine of us in the minority,” Padilla added.
The minority senators are Senate Minority Leader Alan Cayetano, Padilla, Marcoleta as well as Francis Escudero, Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, Imee Marcos, Ronald dela Rosa and Christopher Go.
Escudero, Villanueva and Estrada are among those being investigated for allegedly receiving commissions from “ghost” or substandard ghost projects. They have repeatedly denied the allegations against them.
In the meantime, Padilla asked the public to remain calm, saying it would not help the Senate if its members continue to quarrel among themselves over the chairmanship of the blue ribbon panel.
No takers
“The Blue Ribbon Committee has practically turned into a Red Ribbon one, as no one wants to lead it anymore,” he said in jest, adding, “It’s good that Senator Panfilo Lacson has now returned to take the helm.”
At the same time, Padilla also urged the public to trust in Lacson’s renewed leadership in the committee.
“Let us also be thankful that from the majority bloc, he will be the one to once again chair the Blue Ribbon Committee—rather than the other senators whose political colors are openly displayed, which could lead to more mudslinging that would only drag the Senate deeper into the quicksand,” he said.
Resignation trigger
Lacson resigned as committee chair last month, saying in a letter dated Oct. 7 to Senate President Vicente Sotto III that several of their colleagues had expressed disappointment with the “direction” being taken by the panel in its hearings on anomalous flood control projects.
According to Lacson, some of the senators were under the impression that he was intent on pinning down some of them while supposedly protecting House lawmakers who had been linked to the controversy.
But just more than a week later, Sotto said in various media interviews that most of their peers in the majority bloc wanted Lacson to be reinstated.
Lacson is expected to be reelected as blue ribbon committee chair when the Senate resumes its session on Nov. 10.
