Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson Erwin Tulfo urged Minority Leader Alan Cayetano on Friday to refrain from being overly eager to revive the stalled flood control probe, asserting that the panel will resume its probe in the coming days once new leads emerge, aside from the repeated allegations of “maleta” deliveries. 

Tulfo’s remarks came on the heels of Cayetano’s statement, proposing a so-called ex-deal with the administration, where the Senate would be allowed to reopen the flood control investigation, while the National Bureau of Investigation probes the alleged anomalies in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG), which Cayetano chiefly supervised. 

Tulfo implied that Cayetano’s remarks merely generate unnecessary noise, given that the BRC has yet to be fully constituted, with no vice chair and still lacks members from the minority. 

The panel will likely elect its members on 27 July, after the President’s SONA, and thereafter, the reopening of the flood control investigation.

"So, just relax. Don't be too eager...Boy Banat just says whatever comes to mind,” Tulfo said of Cayetano. 

According to the BRC chair, they will not simply reopen the investigation without concrete and new developments, saying the allegations of kickback deliveries to several lawmakers are becoming repetitive, which will only derail other pressing business of the Senate, such as the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, if carried out again.

Besides, he said, corruption cases related to flood control anomalies are already the subject of the parallel investigation of the  Ombudsman and the Department of Justice’s investigation, and even the courts, like the Sandiganbayan.

“Now, if he says this should be investigated again—what for, when there is already a case? What I’m looking for now is something new,” Tulfo pointed out. 

Tulfo himself has been implicated by the so-called former security aides and “bagmen” of ex-lawmaker Elizaldy Co in the kickback scheme, accusing him of receiving several suitcases stuffed with illegal money. 

Tulfo has strongly denied the corruption allegations, offered to resign if documentary proof is produced, and expressed willingness to inhibit from the BRC’s probe. 

The 18 bodyguards had repeatedly alleged that they delivered “maletas” to several members of Congress allied with President Marcos Jr. during their time serving as security aides of Co, who was when he was still the chair of the House appropriations panel in the last Congress.

The cash was allegedly obtained through kickbacks from ghost or substandard flood control projects.

The group's credibility, however, was put into question after the Armed Forces of the Philippines disowned several of them, while the majority had been dishonorably discharged. 

The AFP also claimed that the group was no longer in the service at the time of the alleged deliveries. The group, in response, denied receiving P5 million each in bribes from Defensor, as alleged by the NBI, to fabricate the “fictitious” testimonies, which was a repeat of their February affidavit.