Photo courtesy of Ping Lacson/Facebook.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday disclosed partial findings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s inquiry into alleged irregularities in flood control projects, recommending that several current and former lawmakers face preliminary investigation for possible criminal charges.
In a privilege speech, Lacson, who chairs the panel, did not directly name those being referred but presented a list of individuals in a proposed matrix of charges. The list included Senators Francis Escudero, Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, former senator Ramon Revilla Jr., former Speaker Martin Romualdez, and former appropriations chair Zaldy Co.
The panel recommended further case build up or fact finding proceedings for alleged offenses such as direct bribery, violations of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and plunder. Other possible charges cited were malversation and breaches of the code of conduct for public officials.
Lacson said prosecutors would determine the appropriate complaints based on available evidence and additional material that may be gathered during investigations at the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman. He noted that while some aspects of the report may have been overtaken by events, this did not diminish its findings.
He also said the committee’s conclusions were already being acted upon even before the report’s formal adoption. The senator described the controversy as a large scale corruption scheme, likening it to a more aggressive version of the pork barrel scam exposed in 2013.
According to Lacson, the inquiry showed that the issue was not a lack of funding but weaknesses in internal controls that made flood control allocations vulnerable to abuse. He said the system involved a network of actors within government and the private sector who exploited existing processes to divert public funds.
The lawmaker added that the scheme reflected an evolution of pork barrel practices, with funds taking different forms such as allocable projects, leadership allocations, and insertions in the national budget, including unprogrammed appropriations. He said a case in Bulacan illustrated how such mechanisms were carried out.
Despite the findings, Lacson said the report was not meant to hand down judgment but to guide authorities in determining liability and pursuing accountability. He urged support for the report, noting that it still lacked the required number of signatures for plenary submission, and said he would continue to hold the floor until more senators sign on.