A Senate colleague was approached by a minority bloc member and asked to hold back support for the blue ribbon committee’s partial report on flood control investigations, Senate Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson disclosed Saturday.
Lacson said the information reached him through Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who had been working to gather signatures needed to bring the report to the plenary floor. Only three more are required to meet the threshold.
“May nakausap siyang isa at tinanong niya dahil malapit sa amin. Ang pagkasabi sa kanya, pasensya na kasi napakiusapan ako ng isa sa minority ngayon na dati naming kasama sa majority,” Lacson said in a radio interview on DWIZ.
He declined to identify either senator by name but confirmed the one who made the appeal came from the minority side — a bloc composed of senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Imee Marcos, Ronald Dela Rosa, Bong Go, Joel Villanueva, Robin Padilla, Rodante Marcoleta, and Jinggoy Estrada.
Six signatures have already been secured: Sotto, Lacson, panel vice chairperson Erwin Tulfo, and senators Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan, and Risa Hontiveros. Sotto, who is not a panel member, signed by virtue of his position as Senate President.
Despite his frustration, Lacson said he was not without understanding.
“May disappointment pero mas nananaig yung naiintindihan ko yung situation nila kasi alam mo, tao lang naman tayo. Laging may human factor, human element na magseset in. Di natin maiwasan yun. Mayroon tayong kaibigan, malapit man o hindi, na gusto nating pagbigyan,” he said.
Lacson raised the possibility that the arrest of former lawmaker Zaldy Co in Prague could shift the calculus for hesitant senators.
“Kung gusto nilang malaman ang katotohanan, palagay ko baka sakaling magkaroon ng pagbabago ng isip maski paano may pabigat sa balikat na gusto ba nating lumabas yung katotohanan,” he added.
The committee chairperson stressed that submitting the report to the plenary would not foreclose dissent — senators retain the right to file amendments or conduct interpellations once it reaches the floor. Lacson has suspended the panel’s flood control hearings pending that submission.
