Courtesy: House of Representatives
HOUSE Infrastructure Committee (Infra-Comm) overall chairman and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Sunday said the resignation of Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson as chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee closes a critical phase in the country’s widening flood control corruption investigation — one that, he said, exposed “the most consequential testimonies and evidence” on the multi-billion-peso controversy.
“As Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson vacates the chairmanship of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, his leadership of the panel has yielded the most consequential testimonies and evidence among all proceedings relating to the ongoing flood control corruption controversy,” Ridon, a lawyer, said.
Ridon noted a series of Senate testimonies built upon earlier explosive confessions heard in the House.
“The series of admissions by Henry Alcantara and Roberto Bernardo before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee—building upon the initial confessions of Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza at the House Infrastructure Committee hearings—has laid bare the conspiracy of various actors: contractors, DPWH officials, legislators, and even executive officials, in the plunder of government resources for private gain,” he said.
Ridon credited Lacson’s hearings for unveiling the full extent of corruption behind flood control allocations, saying the Blue Ribbon inquiry “exposed not only members of Congress as principal participants in the capture of the national budget at every stage of the budget process—from the National Expenditure Program to the Bicameral Conference Committee—but also the involvement of executive officials, particularly in the capture of unprogrammed appropriations, which fall solely within the authority of the executive branch.”
The congressman said Lacson’s departure from the panel should not stall accountability efforts, stressing the need for the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to conduct a “broad, unrelenting, and open sweep.”
“The departure of Senator Lacson from the Blue Ribbon Committee should now compel the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to conduct a broad, unrelenting, and open sweep of all individuals named in both Senate and House hearings, to determine with precision their respective liabilities, and to recommend the filing of appropriate charges,” Ridon added.
Ridon concluded his statement by expressing confidence that Lacson would continue his anti-corruption advocacy beyond his Senate role.
“We wish Senator Lacson well, confident that he will continue to pursue his advocacies for good governance and accountability in whatever capacity he chooses in the future,” he said.
