After what amounted to a humiliating snub by his colleagues, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Saturday warned that attempts to suppress the findings of the Senate investigation into the flood control anomalies would “ultimately fail,” saying the public outrage over the controversy remains too strong to ignore.

As of yesterday, the partial report of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, chaired by Lacson, has not been formally adopted or submitted to the plenary due to a lack of signatures.

The 17-member committee needs a majority of at least nine signatures for the partial report to be formally filed and sponsored in the plenary for debate, amendments and possible adoption.

While he said he respects the position of his colleagues who disagreed with portions of the report, Lacson criticized their refusal to sign to prevent the report from reaching plenary deliberations.

The signatories so far are Lacson as chair, Senate President Vicente Sotto III as ex officio, vice chairperson Erwin Tulfo, and Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan.

Some senators, including those allegedly linked to the issues, were reluctant or were discouraged from signing.

Instead of waiting, Lacson said he would deliver the findings himself via a privilege speech titled “The Chairman’s FCP [Flood Control Project] Progress Report” when the session resumes on Monday.

This would bypass the need for full committee consensus or signatures, as a chairman’s report or privilege speech does not require the same routing process.

Napoles 2?

“Our people are angry and will not forget the issue,” Lacson said in a radio interview.

“I called the flood control scandal ‘Napoles 2,’ but this is much worse, and it’s no laughing matter,” he stressed.

The senator was referring to the pork barrel scam involving businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles in the early 2010s, in which lawmakers were accused of funneling public funds to ghost projects in exchange for kickbacks.

Lacson said the current controversy has left a deep imprint on the public consciousness because of the lives and livelihoods affected by the failed and questionable flood control projects.

He said he felt compelled to report the committee’s findings directly to the public after seven to eight hearings, amid accusations that the Senate probe was protecting certain personalities and selectively targeting others.

“As Blue Ribbon chairman, I owe it to the Filipino people to update them,” he said. “There are false narratives being spread that we are covering up for some persons and targeting others.”