Senate blocks Christmas break for its detainees

There will be no holiday furlough for contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II and three former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers who are all currently detained at the Senate in connection with the multibillion-peso flood control project anomalies.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday that Senate President Vicente Sotto III approved his recommendation to deny the group’s request for a Christmas furlough, citing serious security concerns and the looming issuance of arrest warrants against them.

“I recommended to the Senate President that their request for a Christmas furlough be denied mainly for security reasons, owing to the repeated media statements by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla that arrest warrants would be issued before Christmas,” Lacson said.

“So the risk of escape becomes greater, not to mention that it makes no sense to grant such requests for a Christmas leave if indeed warrants are coming out by then,” he added.

Discaya and former DPWH engineers Brice Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza and Henry Alcantara are being held at the Senate premises after being cited in contempt by the Blue Ribbon Committee for refusing to cooperate in its investigation into alleged irregularities in flood control projects.

Lacson, who chairs the committee, said the detainees will be allowed limited privileges: they may attend Mass inside the Senate and receive visits from family members.

“That’s the most that we can allow, given the circumstances,” he said.

Alcantara had asked for a holiday leave through the Department of Justice, but that request was also denied.

Beyond the furlough issue, Lacson pressed the Office of the Ombudsman to follow through on its public commitment to file charges before the Sandiganbayan and other courts against those responsible for the flood control projects corruption.

He said swift action would send a strong warning that corruption will not go unpunished.

“I hope the Ombudsman can make good on its timeline to file the information before the Sandiganbayan and other venues, assuming that probable cause is clearly established against those responsible for the plunder of public funds,” Lacson said.