MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Saturday thanked Sen. Erwin Tulfo for “speaking the truth” after the latter revealed that some fellow senators had discouraged him from signing a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report on the alleged anomalies in flood control projects.
According to Lacson, Tulfo’s remarks confirmed what he had long believed was the reason the committee’s partial report failed to secure enough signatures to be sponsored on the Senate floor.
“Thank you Sen. Erwin for speaking the truth to confirm what I had thought all along was the real reason why the partial report was left to go stale and become spoiled,” Lacson said on Saturday in a post on X.
He then asked: “Where do you go from here, Philippine Senate?”
In Lacson’s post, he also included a snippet of Tulfo’s interview with broadcast journalist Jessica Soho.
In the video, Tulfo recalled being told not to sign because some of those who could be affected by the findings were also among them.
“I cannot just close my eyes,” Tulfo said in the video.
‘Not one of us’
Meanwhile, in another interview with DWIZ radio on Saturday, Tulfo revealed further that some senators questioned his decision to sign the report.
Tulfo did not name them but said that he was told, “Looks like you don’t know how to be a team player,” and “It’s as if you’re not one of us.”
According to Tulfo, he signed the report in his capacity as the committee’s then-vice chairman and intended to raise his objections and proposed amendments during plenary deliberations.
He said he stood by his decision and believed the senators who had concerns about the report should have still signed it, and just proposed amendments during plenary deliberations, instead of preventing it from advancing forward.
Blue Ribbon Committee
While the report did not reach the plenary, Lacson said its contents were entered into the Senate record and submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman for investigation.
Following leadership changes in the Senate, the Blue Ribbon Committee chairmanship passed from Lacson to Sen. Pia Cayetano and later to Tulfo.
In a separate proceeding conducted by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s bloc, which continues to dispute the Senate‘s leadership, the 18 individuals claiming to be former bagmen of Rep. Zaldy Co testified.
They named Tulfo and former Senate President Vicente Sotto III as among those who allegedly received suitcases of cash as kickbacks.
While both denied the allegations, Tulfo said he plans to inhibit himself from future Blue Ribbon proceedings involving the flood control investigation to avoid questions over impartiality.
Instead, he said he would seek the creation of a subcommittee to be chaired by Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, subject to Senate approval, once sessions resume. /apl
