A ‘frustrated’ Sen. Panfilo Lacson resigned yesterday as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
The Senate plenary is expected to tackle the resignation this week. If Lacson cannot be prevailed upon to reconsider, four senators are being eyed to replace him in the panel, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who recieved the letter of resignation.
In a message to The STAR, Lacson said his decision was driven by frustration, not pressure.
‘No one can pressure me. Been there, done that – with GMA, even Erap (on the jueteng issue) and Duterte,’ he said, referring to former presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Joseph Estrada and Rodrigo Duterte.
‘I resist and fight when I know I’m right. Needless to say, I can handle all the pressure from all directions. It’s frustration that is hard to bear,’ he added.
In a letter, Lacson wrote, ‘In the course of the current investigation, which has implicated some senators in the flood control mess, a number of our colleagues have expressed disappointment with the ‘direction’ of the Blue Ribbon committee.’
Some senators have accused him of ‘zeroing in’ on colleagues while protecting House lawmakers linked to ghost or substandard infrastructure projects, an allegation Lacson denied.
‘Nothing could be further from the truth. This narrative is categorically false. These misrepresentations are being floated mostly by critics opposed to our efforts to get to the bottom of the flood control anomalies,’ he maintained.
Lacson said he plans to end his political career after 2031, or when his fresh six-year term ends.
‘I do not need to amass political capital, much less at the expense of anybody, because I entertain no further political plans after my term ends in 2031,’ he said.
Inquiry alive
Meanwhile, the Senate Blue Ribbon panel’s inquiry into anomalous flood control projects nationwide will continue, Senate President Sotto said yesterday.
Four senators eyed to replace Lacson are ‘very good’ candidates, Sotto said.
The Blue Ribbon inquiry has led to the filing of charges against Senators Francis Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva.
Senators, congressmen, engineers and contractors have been implicated in multibillion-peso ghost or substandard infrastructure deals.
‘The only time (Lacson is) deemed resigned is when we elect a new chairman,’ Sotto noted.
Sotto dismissed claims that Lacson’s resignation is aimed at preventing instability within the chamber amid talks of a leadership coup.
Stable
Sotto is confident in the Senate leadership’s stability, dismissing rumors on social media that efforts are being made to oust him.
Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano is allegedly being touted as Sotto’s replacement.
Cayetano assured him that the rumors were false, Sotto said.
Civic group Tindig Pilipinas, one of the organizers of the Trillion Peso March, is opposing reported efforts to change the Senate leadership.
A Cayetano-led Senate would only ‘bury the crimes of the Dutertes’ and any possible leadership shift would be a ‘biased and deceitful show of transparency,’ the group asserted.
Sotto downplayed speculation of a ‘loyalty check’ within the majority bloc, saying senators remain in constant communication.
Quoting Sen. JV Ejercito, Sotto said reports of Ejercito’s plan to join the minority were a rehash.
Ejercito had called Lacson to explain that the statements attributed to him were misleading, he noted.
No senator is planning to leave the majority bloc, Sotto maintained.
Ejercito earlier said he and four members of the majority were mulling leaving the bloc due to how senators are ‘burning down our own house.’
‘Almost all’ senators in the 19th Congress had questionable insertions in the 2025 national budget, Lacson revealed earlier.