Today should have marked one of the two most highly anticipated events in Senate history: the resumption of the Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) hearings on the multibillion-peso flood control scandal that has severely undermined the integrity of our democracy. The other major event is the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Both issues involve allies of the Marcos administration and VP Sara, as well as the misuse of taxpayer money.
However, due to yesterday’s last-minute upheaval in the Senate, the BRC hearing has been rescheduled to 8 June, as announced by its new chair, Sen. Erwin Tulfo, who immediately replaced Sen. Pia Cayetano.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian took the Senate president pro tempore from Sen. Loren Legarda after Sen. Chiz Escudero crossed over to the minority, giving the chamber the quorum of 12 senators present, enough to initiate a change in the Senate positions and declare all committees vacant, but still one vote shy of removing Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President.
For years, the flood control scandal has cast doubt on the integrity of public service and the effective use of taxpayer money. The alleged main perpetrators of the misappropriation of funds, questionable contracts, and possible collusion between government officials and private entities include former Speaker Martin Romualdez and resigned Congressman Zaldy Co, who is currently unaccounted for abroad.
Co has implicated both the President and Romualdez as the real masterminds in his video releases. The testimony of the so-called 18 ex-Marines, who claimed to be the “bagmen” who transported at least P805 billion in kickbacks from flood control projects to top administration officials, including the President himself, has surfaced.
The BRC should look into these discrepancies to uncover the truth, assuming there are no last-minute distractions from those potentially implicated or from the dramatic antics of Antonio Trillanes who, despite losing three elections, continues to seek the spotlight for relevance.
The BRC hearings will provide a platform for testimony and evidence, promote accountability, and, more importantly, serve as a litmus test of our nation’s political will. The discussions that will emerge from the committee sessions will spill into our homes, workplaces, and social media platforms, and the best thing is we can watch it all live — hopefully with no cheating.
Against the backdrop of the Senate noise, President Marcos’s declining satisfaction rating reached a new record low. At the same time, Vice President Sara Duterte’s continues to ascend, according to the latest survey by two widely used pollsters, Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations (SWS), for the first quarter.
The numbers game in the Senate will ultimately determine the truth. As it stands, two of the Cayetano group senators (Estrada and Dela Rosa) cannot be physically present; one is detained, the other is in hiding, reducing the group to 11.
In the impeachment process, the situation could be more predictable. The Sotto senators will need 16 votes to impeach Vice President Sara, while only nine votes will be needed to acquit her.
Let us hope that when that time comes, any change in the numbers would really be in the people’s interest.
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