Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson criticized Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta for citing “fake premises” in connection with the Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation into the flood control scandal and for threatening an ethics complaint against him.
“Mali-mali ang premise lagi niya. Nagbibintang siya, mali ang kanyang premise. Puro fake eh,” Lacson said in a radio interview.
He noted that Marcoleta’s call to invite former Presidential Legal Liaison Office Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin was unfounded, as Bersamin’s name never appeared in the committee’s records.
Lacson added that the threat of an ethics complaint over an allegedly spliced video also lacked merit.
Bersamin’s name surfaced only during Lacson’s interpellation of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) in past budget deliberations, based on testimony from former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.
“Pero hindi naman niya tinestify sa Blue Ribbon Committee yan… Kung may nagtanong sa kanya at binanggit niya yan e di meron kaming ipu-pursue,” Lacson explained.
Emphasizing that the probe is not targeting individuals, he said:
“Sabi ko hindi tayo nagta-target. Kung nagta-target tayo witch-hunt ang tawag doon na walang basehan… Mahirap kung magsimula tayong mag witch-hunt wayward na. Parang ang gulo na ng pagdinig natin niyan.”
Lacson noted that several senators have already indicated support for signing the Blue Ribbon Committee’s partial report, which requires at least nine of the 17 regular members’ signatures before being transmitted to the Bills and Index section.