I HAVE never been fond of Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. He may have been acquitted in the Kuratong Baleleng and the Corbito-Dacer double murder case, albeit in controversial fashion. But those two cases still linger in the memories of those old enough to have lived through those incidents, which played a great part in the downfall of a former president.
But lately, Senator Ping has started earning my respect after he boldly proclaimed the 2025 national budget as one of the most corrupt he has ever seen. This was after last-minute insertions amounting to hundreds of billions of pesos were uncovered. And this was despite the fact that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had already vetoed several items amounting to hundreds of billions of pesos.
When he replaced Sen. Rodante Marcoleta as chairman of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, he was acting as if he was bent on straightening the path of the committee’s handling of the flood control project investigation, which some sectors have been criticizing as appearing to be covering up for the anomalous transactions which occurred during the previous administration. This, even as contractor Sarah Discaya and former public works and highways undersecretary Roberto Bernardo claimed that there were already ghost projects implemented during that era.
The police officer in Lacson was starting to manifest. All indicators were pointing to a Lacson-led full-blown investigation. No cover-ups. He even invited to the Senate hearing former House deputy secretary general Sofonias “Ponyong” Gabonada, a subject of my earlier column, which was said to have prompted Davao del Norte Gov. Edwin Jubahib to have Gabonada probed, which reportedly revealed hundreds of millions of pesos worth of properties belonging to the former House deputy secretary general.
Lacson even cited Sarah’s husband, Curlee, for contempt, with the latter ending up in the Senate detention cell. Lacson was going all-out. Until he was briefly replaced as Senate blue ribbon chair.
But as he returned to re-assume his post, we began to see a transformed Lacson. Just like his predecessor, he was only zeroing in on the flood control projects from 2022 and up. He ordered Curlee Discaya to retrieve their company’s ledgers to substantiate their claim of transactions with lawmakers that they accused of benefiting from ghost or substandard flood control projects.
When Curlee returned to the Senate, he only brought the ledgers reflecting records from 2022 up to the present, saying it would take them until the next day if he was to haul all of their company ledgers to include transactions before 2022. Lacson simply accepted Curlee’s statement.
But then, they are only ledgers. Curlee would only have to retrieve them from their files if they are in digital form or from filing cabinets if he wants hard copies. It won’t have to take several hours. Unless they were to “doctor” the entries.
And I have reason to believe the records may have been doctored. For when Curlee presented the documents to the Lacson committee, he again pointed to Quezon City representatives PM Vargas and Marivic Co-Pilar, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, Marikina Rep. Marcy Teodoro and Laguna Rep. Benjie Agarao. All of the aforementioned have already testified before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and have proven before the body that they have no projects involving any of the Discaya-owned company.
Surprisingly, Lacson never lifted a finger against Curlee, whom he could have cited from multiple contempt. It appears he had accepted Curlee’s testimony hook, line and sinker.
And with regard to the issue of why Curlee only brought records from 2022 up to the present, his lawyer admitted that it was because that was the only thing that was asked of them by the committee. So, has Lacson been smitten by Marcoleta’s “charm” that he is now parroting his line?
Also, his invitation to Gabonada seems to have been put on hold.
His earlier bravado, which he boldly brandished earlier, seems to be missing.
Now comes the bicam. Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon suddenly appears before the bicam meeting, seeking to restore the P47 billion initially cut from the agency’s budget, citing an error in computation. But instead of probing if there was indeed an error in computation, Lacson threw a childish tantrum, saying he won’t touch that unless Dizon apologizes.
What! The last thing we need is a senator seeking an apology instead of scrutinizing the budget to validate if the claimed error is accurate.
Not content with his demand for an apology, Lacson announced he would not sign the budget emanating from the bicam if the provision for Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (Maifip) is not excluded from the final version, claiming this could be used for patronage politics.
That’s the problem with Lacson. Since he does not have his own pork, he has no idea how the Maifip works. The fund for Maifip is released directly to the Department of Health and not coursed through lawmakers. Lawmakers then make referrals on behalf of their constituents who are in need of medical assistance, and they are given guarantee letters for the hospitals they are seeking medical procedures for.
Imagine Maifip away. Where would the lawmakers get the funds to help their constituents seeking medical assistance? By resorting to corrupt practices?
Senator Lacson, if you don’t want to extend medical assistance to the people, whether they voted for you or not, just don’t deny other people, especially your colleagues, from using this program to help their constituents. Since you are a lawmaker, why don’t you craft a law that would ensure your apprehension that this could be abused and can be prevented.Just don’t throw childish tantrums.
