Keep anger high, violence low over flood control mess

Senate Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Saturday said the public must remain outraged over the anomalous flood-control project issue but should refrain from violence.

Lacson said concerned authorities, particularly Malacañang, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice, cannot afford to ease up because those involved may be emboldened to try again if they get away with their actions now.

And yet, critics of the government have maintained that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is primarily to blame for the 2025 national budget, tagged as the “most corrupt ever.”

Still, Lacson said he hopes the outrage does not turn violent, similar to the 21 September protest, which recorded various violent incidents in areas where the protest occurred.

“I don’t want public outrage to lessen, so long as people remain non-violent. If public anger diminishes, government might slacken their efforts,” Lacson said.

Lacson, the chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, had repeatedly fended off accusations that he had become a rabid apologist for Marcos and amid charges that his committee has been covering up the scandal.

“As of now, they are working because of the pressure from our people. But this is so long as the outrage does not turn violent, like the September 21 protest where some protesters damaged some traffic lights,” he added in Filipino during a radio interview.

Romualdez tagged

In recent weeks, the flood-control case involving former Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co was filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan. The case was subsequently raffled to the judges.

On Friday, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, together with the Department of Public Works and Highways, recommended to the Ombudsman a new batch of individuals for investigation, including former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Lacson said that actions taken by the Ombudsman and the national government last Friday showed they are moving decisively, enough to make “partisan critics eat their words” that Co is untouchable.

Lacson noted reports of Co being sighted in Japan may indicate that Interpol is monitoring him and could apprehend him once it receives a copy of his arrest warrant, allowing authorities to bring him back to the Philippines.

“He has to ride a plane and pass through immigration, so he can be tracked. He just cannot be arrested as of now because he is not yet on Interpol’s red notice list since they have no copy of his arrest warrant. Still, he’s on their radar,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday night said it has yet to receive a court order related to the cancellation of Co’s passport.

The agency said it can proceed with cancellation only “upon receipt of a court order issued by a competent Philippine court instructing the DFA to cancel a Philippine passport,” citing Sections 4 and 10 of Republic Act 11983 or the New Philippine Passport Act.

Lacson said that should Co be arrested and returned to the Philippines, he could be brought before the Blue Ribbon Committee.

However, if his case has reached the Sandiganbayan by then, the committee must avoid violating the sub judice rule by discussing the merits of the case before the anti-graft court.

No rush

Lacson added that actions against those involved in corruption must not be rushed, so long as they lead to prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment.

The senator cited the case of officials, including former undersecretaries Adrian Bersamin and Trygve Olaivar, who, according to former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, inserted P100 billion into the 2025 budget bill without President Marcos’ knowledge — emboldened, he said, because they had gotten away with it the previous year.

Lacson noted that in 2024, those involved in the insertion of the P100 billion managed to divert P50 billion from unprogrammed appropriations for various infrastructure projects, including P30 billion for flood-control projects alone.

“The DBM caused the release of that amount, possibly in coordination with the Office of the Executive Secretary,” he recalled. “From what I know, they got away with it so they were emboldened to try it again in 2025.”

The list of projects to be funded was prepared by then-Undersecretary Ma. Catalina Cabral and discussed with then Secretary Manuel Bonoan and then Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.

Lacson said the number of personalities who could be implicated may reach 2,000 or more, noting that the 1,200 initially estimated by Independent Commission for Infrastructure Commissioner Rogelio Singson was based only on 420 ghost projects out of 8,000 initially inspected.

During the last Blue Ribbon hearing, he said the number of suspected ghost projects had risen to about 472.

“It’s so widespread that not just 1,200 could be implicated. It could be 2,000 or more,” Lacson said.