Ping: Substance of blue ribbon report stays
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the contents of the draft committee report recommending charges against some incumbent senators will stay.
“The version may change but not the substance,” he said in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday, adding that the Senate blue ribbon investigation into the anomalous flood control projects is still “a work in progress.”
Lacson confirmed that a draft report from the committee recommended the filing of charges against Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva and Chiz Escudero.
“That’s correct, and among others, the three senators were highlighted, but the important content of this report was the [proposed] legislation. There were others recommended to be charged, there were a lot of DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) officials… there were a lot recommended for the DOJ (Department of Justice) or the Ombudsman to look into,” Lacson said.
Asked if the recommendation to charge Villanueva and Estrada would still change, the Senate leader said no.
Marcos’ accountability
“No, because it would be awkward. Villanueva’s cases were submitted for resolution with the DOJ, three out of six cases filed by the National Bureau of Investigation, most of the evidence came from the blue ribbon committee. So if we change that, it would appear very awkward … practical reality was there,” he added.
Last week, Lacson confirmed that the draft also implicated fugitive and former Ako Bicol party list lawmaker Zaldy Co, former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan and several others based on the testimonies from former public works engineers.
He said the committee has so far found no basis to hold President Marcos accountable in connection with the alleged flood control irregularities.
“We did not find any basis to hold the President accountable based on the Senate blue ribbon committee’s investigation. It is the President’s role to approve the General Appropriations Act once it is submitted to him. He does not prepare the General Appropriations Bill,” the senator pointed out.
Lacson added that the issue of Mr. Marcos’ accountability is better left to the judgment of the House committee on justice.
Required signatures
A draft of the blue ribbon committee report was initially leaked to the public last week.
“What we discussed during the Wednesday meeting was about the use of appropriate language in some of the paragraphs which they said can still be improved,” he said.
Lacson earlier clarified that the report was merely a draft and not the committee report itself and for the document to become the actual panel report, it needs to be signed and approved.
The document needs 11 signatures before it is submitted for plenary discussion.
He added that at least one member of the Senate minority bloc, particularly the minority leader, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, needs to sign the report.
“If he does not sign, we will then discuss how to deal with a committee report that has no signature of the minority (leader). We have to look at our rules further to see the implication of having 11 signatures but all coming from the majority bloc,” Lacson said.
“It’s not a matter of being confident or not in getting the signatures. The fact is we need 11, if we can’t gather 11 signatures, so be it. There’s no committee report,” he added.
Chairman’s report
Lacson said the blue ribbon panel will still hold another one to two more hearings before drafting the final and complete version of the committee report.
He also noted that he is open to submitting the committee report to the Ombudsman and the DOJ as a “Chairman’s Report,” in case it failed to gather enough signatures.
“If they request it, why not? Our hearing is a public hearing. Even before, they have been requesting us for some documents during the course of our investigation,” he said. “The material evidence on the flood control anomalies came from us. That is why cases have been filed against some individuals because of the blue ribbon committee hearings.”
But Lacson said he hopes that members of the majority bloc would be able to resolve all the concerns on the report and gather the signatures needed during Monday’s meeting.
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