Sen. Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson stepped down as the chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee on Sunday following criticisms on his leadership of the Senate’s ongoing flood-control probe.
‘Rightly or wrongly, when quite a number of them have expressed disappointment over how I’m handling the flood control project anomalies, I thought it’s time for me to step aside in favor of another member who they think can handle the committee better,’ Lacson said.
‘No amount of criticisms from misinformed netizens and partisan sectors can distract or pressure me from doing my job right, but when my own peers start expressing their group or individual sentiments, maybe it is best to vacate,’ he continued.
On Sunday morning, the senator revealed his intention in an interview with dzBB, also citing the disappointment expressed by his colleagues, particularly from Sens. JV Ejercito, and Win Gatchalian.
In the same interview, Lacson said that his resignation letter may be formally submitted to the plenary session once the Senate resumes its session. Lacson also stated that there have been ‘fake news and false narratives’ from other groups accusing him of targeting some of his colleagues, while allegedly protecting some members of the House of Representatives, specifically ex-House speaker Martin Romualdez, and former Ako-Bicol partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co. Romualdez and Co are both heavily tagged by contractors as ‘masterminds’ of the anomalous flood-control projects.
However, Lacson asserted that he ‘handled the hearings well,’ but he alluded that ‘there are those trying to disrupt the hearings,’ which he said could be the reason why some believe the hearings were not being conducted properly.
‘In one instance, the hearing had barely started when someone tried to make a distraction,’ Lacson added.
Continue fighting corruption
Despite his decision to step down from the committee, the senator vowed to continue fighting corruption.
‘Nevertheless, I will continue to fight a corrupt and rotten system in the misuse and abuse of public funds as I have consistently done in the course of my long years in public service,’ he said. The blue ribbon committee hearing on the supposed flood-control anomalies for next week was cancelled ‘until further notice,’ due to affidavits and documents that have yet to be ready.
According to the senator, the hearing was initially scheduled for Wednesday to summon an ex-Department of Public Works and Highways official linked to substandard projects. However, Lacson said the affidavit of Co’s supposed ‘bagman’ has not yet been notarized, and the new affidavits of the Discayas were not yet available, and may not be ready before the scheduled hearing on Wednesday.