Metro Manila, Philippines – The controversial partial report of the Senate blue ribbon committee recommends a thorough investigation and possible freezing and forfeiture of assets of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.
Senate President Pro Tempore and blue ribbon chairman Panfilo Lacson revealed this in a privilege speech on Tuesday, March 10, as he responded to criticisms from Senator Rodante Marcoleta over his alleged failure to invite Romualdez to a committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects.
In a privilege speech on Monday, Marcoleta accused Lacson of covering up for Romualdez, who has been linked to anomalous flood control projects and kickbacks — allegations the former House Speaker has denied.
“Kung binasa lamang po ni Senator Marcoleta ang partial committee report, makikita po niya na nakapaloob na doon ang lahat ng nais niyang ipahayag — kung hindi man higit pa: rekomendasyon para sa fact-finding investigation, AMLC bank inquiry, and filing of freeze order petitions at forfeiture,” Lacson said.
[Translation: If Senator Marcoleta had simply read the partial committee report, he would see that everything he wanted — if not more — is already included there: recommendations for a fact-finding investigation, an Anti-Money Laundering Council bank inquiry, and the filing of freeze order petitions and forfeiture proceedings.]
The senator delivered his privilege speech to address Marcoleta’s allegations point by point, including claims that the release of the committee report had been delayed.
According to Lacson, Marcoleta himself had not signed the report circulated among senators on February 11.
“Aniya, ang natanggap ng kanyang opisina ay isang PDF file o document na may watermark ng bawat opisina na nakatanggap nito, na wala man lang daw pirma ng Chairman ng Komite. Natural, walang pirma dahil advanced copies lang naman ang ipinadala namin sa opisina ng lahat ng members,” Lacson said.
[Translation: According to him, what his office received was only a PDF document with the watermark of each office that received it, and that it supposedly did not even bear the signature of the committee chairman. Naturally, there was no signature because what we sent were only advance copies to the offices of all the members.]
“Common sense naman po, Mr. President,” he added, taking a swipe at Marcoleta for faulting him even for an initiative to speed up the process.
Lacson noted that Marcoleta could easily register his dissent when signing the report if he disagreed with its contents.
Lacson also revealed that as of Monday, only Senator Bam Aquino had signed the partial committee report.
“It goes without saying that I respect each and every member’s decision when they will sign the report, if at all. What I despise is Senator Marcoleta’s audacity to lie about his inability to sign the same by citing an untruthful reason for not signing, “ Lacson said.
A previously leaked draft, initially recommended charges against senators linked to the flood control scandal, including Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, and Joel Villanueva. Aside from Lacson, Senators Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Kiko Pangilinan had signed the draft report while Senators JV Ejercito, Win Gatchalian, and Migz Zubiri initially signed but withdrew their signatures.
Lacson earlier said the report has since been “corrected” to recommend investigation instead of charges against fellow senators, noting that the chamber is not in a position to make such recommendation to the courts .
