Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta criticized Senate President Pro Tempore and Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson Panfilo Lacson for failing to issue a committee report on anomalous flood control projects seven months after hearings began.
In a privilege speech, Marcoleta lamented the delay.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of this Chamber, the People have waited long enough. It has been seven months since the first Blue Ribbon Hearing,” he said.
He noted that his office received a draft report on February 11, 2026, but it did not bear Lacson’s signature.
Marcoleta also raised concerns over Lacson’s repeated statements that there was no evidence linking former House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez to the scandal.
“This is deeply troubling not only for what was asserted but for what was prematurely concluded because the records of the hearings clearly reveal otherwise,” Marcoleta said, citing testimonies from Orly Guteza and former Ako Bicol Party-List Representative Zaldy Co, who both pointed to Romualdez’s involvement.
He further alleged a “clear pattern” in which witnesses implicating Romualdez had their credibility questioned.
“We are now seeing a clear pattern in this mumbo-jumbo—that whenever a witness points to former Speaker Romualdez as being linked to the controversy, the credibility of that witness is quickly placed in question,” Marcoleta remarked.
Lacson, in a text message to media, responded, saying Marcoleta’s speech lacked research and required fact-checking.
“For one, I have it on record that his office already received a copy of the BRC partial committee report as early as February 11, both hard and soft copies but he has not signed it even with a ‘I dissent’ remark. It follows that as chairman I was the first to sign before routing the same contrary to his claim that I did not. I don’t know how he can lie through his teeth in his privilege speech,” Lacson said.