Senate blue ribbon committee chair Ping Lacson has acknowledged that the chamber has no power to drag former House Speaker Martin Romualdez before its flood control inquiry, even as a fellow senator insists the Leyte congressman is willing to name names.
The admission came after Sen. Rodante Marcoleta claimed Romualdez was prepared to identify those who profited from flood control funds — a claim Lacson did not validate, pointing instead to the structural limits of the investigation. “Kaya nga time-honored tradition ang tawag. Hindi pa rin ba pumapasok sa bumbunan niya yun?” Lacson said, in a pointed remark directed at Marcoleta.
Romualdez had been invited to the hearings twice — once in November 2025 and again in January — and skipped both. The so-called inter-parliamentary courtesy, a long-observed norm shielding members of one chamber from being summoned by the other, remains the practical barrier to any third appearance.
Lacson said he still favors a face-to-face confrontation between Romualdez, fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co, and ex-soldiers who allegedly delivered kickbacks under Co’s instructions. Whether that happens, he conceded, depends entirely on Romualdez’s own decision.
The committee’s work has otherwise ground to a standstill. Its partial report has been sitting without enough signatures since February, needing nine but holding only six. Lacson alleged that some majority senators had been pressured to withhold their endorsements. Sen. Imee Marcos has publicly conditioned her signature on what she described as a “full investigation.”
Hearings have been on hold since April 15. Facing a deadlocked panel, Lacson announced Monday he will instead deliver the committee’s findings through a privilege speech when the Senate reconvenes in May — a move that would place the evidence on public record. He cited an informal request from the Office of the Ombudsman as reason enough not to let the material sit unused. “Sayang kasi — para mapakinabangan ang evidence kaysa mapanis lang,” Lacson said.
Romualdez himself broke his silence on April 21 with an 11-minute video flatly rejecting allegations that he orchestrated a P56-billion kickback scheme. “I will not go quietly, and I will not go alone. I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption,” he said.
