Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson on Sunday dared House minority leaders Edgar Erice and Antonio Tinio to investigate themselves allegations linking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to flood control kickbacks if they possess evidence, insisting that the Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) will not act on “hearsay.”

Erice and Tinio drew Lacson’s ire by repeatedly urging the BRC, which the senator chairs, to look into alleged text exchanges between Marcos and former legislative liaison officer Adrian Bersamin as part of the committee’s ongoing probe into the flood control scandal.

Bersamin, according to Tinio, allegedly acted as Marcos’ “bagman,” with the supposed messages referring to collections from flood control projects.

Erice, for his part, questioned what he described as the BRC’s failure to examine the extent of Bersamin’s alleged role in the kickback scheme, particularly since it was Lacson himself who earlier implicated the resigned Malacañang official in the controversy.

Lacson said he does not give credence to the claims, stressing that they will remain “hearsay” unless corroborated by evidence.

“Where is the evidence? It’s just triple hearsay. Congressman Erice [and] Congressman Tinio keep on talking, but they really don’t know anything,” Lacson said in Filipino during a radio interview.

‘Triple’ hearsay

The alleged text exchanges reportedly originated from Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, a critic of the administration’s flood control projects who is currently abroad.

Erice and Tinio were purportedly among the lawmakers who claimed to have seen the exchanges between Marcos and Bersamin.

Citing the messages, Tinio alleged that Bersamin reported to Marcos about kickback deliveries to Narra Residence, amounting to P2 billion as of 10 July 2025.

Lacson argued that if House lawmakers indeed had compelling evidence, they could have initiated an investigation in the lower chamber instead of pressing the BRC to take it up.

“If they were made aware of what happened, why did they not conduct an investigation in the House? Why are they instead insisting on it to the Blue Ribbon Committee?” Lacson said. “Because it’s hard to take action based on gossip. It’s like you’re doing a witch hunt.”

He added that he was surprised to learn Erice and Tinio were also aware of the alleged exchanges, noting that Leviste had earlier told him he was the only person with knowledge of the matter.

Lacson said he also began questioning Leviste’s credibility after the lawmaker failed to answer follow-up questions from his staff and did not raise the alleged kickback exchanges during the BRC hearing in January, which Leviste attended.

“I’ve already said that I’m not targeting anyone, regardless of personality, but I will not cover up for anyone either,” Lacson said.