Metro Manila, Philippines – The Senate blue ribbon committee meeting on Monday, June 8, ended without the testimonies of the 18 self-confessed bagmen despite requests for their attendance.

They were in the Senate building only to hold a press conference in the office of Sen. Robin Padilla. Their counsel, Levi Baligod, had said his clients would attend the hearing after the media briefing.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo, committee chairperson, called them to attend the meeting but to no avail.

Committee vice chairman Kiko Pangilingan said that when the blue ribbon is fully constituted, it can compel the witnesses to attend future hearings, subpoena them, hold them in contempt, or even arrest them.

He clarified that the Monday session was a “consultative meeting” and not a hearing. He explained that other members of the Senate had not yet been included in the committee, meaning it had not been constituted.

“The chairperson [Tulfo], as legislative practice will reveal, has from time to time been allowed by practice to hold consultative meetings even if there is no quorum, even if the committee has not been fully constituted,” Pangilingan said.

He said that the event was not a hearing out of respect for the minority senators.

Pangilingan also described the previous June 4 session led by the bloc of Sen. Alan Cayetano as a “bogus hearing.”

“This is in contrast to the previous bogus hearing last Thursday wherein the blue ribbon committee precisely had been declared vacant and even before we removed the former Senate President. They already sent out notices for that June 4 hearing which again is an indication of their disregard for our rules in the Senate,” he said.

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