Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Justice said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report on the flood control corruption scandal will be used as leads in its investigation.
“Sa ngayon hindi pa namin nakikita yung draft committee report ng Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, gusto rin namin makita ito hindi para sabihin na ito ay magiging basehan na ng pagsasampa ng kaso. Ito’y magiging basehan para mangalap ng ebidensya,” Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said in a press conference on Friday, Feb. 6.
[Translation: At present, we have not yet seen the draft committee report of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. We want to review it, not to say that it will automatically be the basis for filing cases. It will serve as a reference to gather evidence.]
“At best, it may be considered as leads that the department can follow and look into and which we would refer to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) para tingan nila,” he added.
[Translation: At best, it may be considered as leads that the department can follow up on and look into, which we would then refer to the NBI for their review.]
Fadullon said the DOJ will wait for the official report from the Senate.
A draft partial committee report that leaked earlier this week contained a recommendation to file criminal charges against Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, and Joel Villanueva.
The leak stirred controversy in the Senate and was cited as one of the factors behind the alleged coup attempt to unseat Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
In a separate online interview on Friday, Sotto said the report must first be approved in session before a copy could be released to the DOJ and other authorities.
He said committee members agreed that the highlight of the report should be to propose legislation that would prevent a similar corruption scandal.
“Importante sa akin doon yung legislation, hindi yung dapat kasuhan si ganito, si ganyan (The important thing for me is the legislation, not who should be charged),” he said.
He clarified there are no efforts now to remove the recommended charges from the official committee report.
Asked whether he personally supports recommending charges against fellow senators, he refused to give a categorical answer, saying he has not read the working draft.
Senate President Pro Tempore and Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Panfilo “Ping” Lacson earlier stood by the recommendation, noting that it is not new, as the senators in question are already under investigation for the flood control scandal.
Escudero, Estrada, and Villanueva all denied involvement in anomalous flood control projects and kickbacks.
