Former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and resigned Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co will be invited to the next hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation on the corruption behind anomalous flood control projects, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.
Lacson said that while the Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs, was still awaiting some developments in the case before scheduling the next hearing, it would already send invitations to Romualdez and his colleagues.
He stressed that this should debunk the perception of some sectors that the Blue Ribbon Committee is targeting, favoring or even ‘protecting’ some personalities.
‘We are not covering up for anyone here,’ the senator said.
In the case of Romualdez, the invitation will be coursed through House Speaker Faustino Dy III, ‘in observation of the time-honored inter-parliamentary courtesy between the two houses of Congress.’
In Co’s case, Lacson said the invitation letter will be sent to his address.
‘Now we know he is abroad and will not show up. If that is the case, we will issue a subpoena, and then a show-cause order,’ Lacson said in an interview on NET25. ‘If the show-cause order is not satisfactory, we will cite him in contempt of the committee and issue a warrant for his arrest,’ he added.