Sen. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan appealed to his colleague Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson to reconsider his decision to resign as the chairman of the blue ribbon committee.
In a statement on Monday evening, Pangilinan said no one in the majority bloc sought Lacson’s replacement as the head of the powerful blue ribbon panel.
‘My sense was and is that while there were a number of our colleagues in the majority bloc who disagreed with some earlier public pronouncements made by him, the matter had been threshed out and clarified by him in a majority caucus held last Wednesday Oct 1. No one in the majority bloc sought his replacement as blue ribbon committee chairman,’ said Pangilinan.
‘I appeal to Senator Ping to stay on as blue ribbon committee chairman and appeal as well to our colleagues in the majority bloc to reaffirm our support for him to stay on even as we iron out our differences,’ he added.
Pangilinan said he is hoping that with the renewed support of the majority bloc, Lacson will be convinced to stay on his post.
‘Now more than ever, amidst the political crisis facing the nation, our people are looking for stability and certainty in the state of our affairs and looking to the strength of our institutions to withstand the ongoing crisis and resolve it in favor of truth, transparency and public accountability,’ said Pangilinan.
Earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed the receipt of Lacson’s resignation letter as blue ribbon chairperson.
In a resignation letter dated October 7 and addressed to Sotto, Lacson explained how a number of their colleagues have expressed disappointment with the ‘direction’ of the blue ribbon committee hearings regarding the anomalous flood control projects.
‘Some senators publicly and secretly pursue the narrative that I am zeroing in on several of my colleagues while purportedly protecting those members of the Lower House perceived to be the principal actors in the budget anomalies related to the substandard and ghost flood control projects,’ said Lacson.
But according to him, 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 said.
Lacson underscored that his committee went where the evidence led them, and not by the noise coming from highly partisan political persuasions.
To all my colleagues, let me reiterate: there are no political considerations in any and all my actions related to my handling of the committee hearings and other related activities,’ said Lacson.