Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson Erwin Tulfo has claimed that several members of the Senate minority bloc have been privately urging him not to proceed with the panel’s investigation into alleged anomalies in flood control projects.
According to a News5 report, Tulfo said the same senators publicly criticize his leadership while quietly pushing for the inquiry to be shelved. “Kayo ‘yung inudyok-udyok niyo ‘yung leadership ni Sen. Win (Gatchalian), pati ako. Sasabihin niyo, tinatago namin. ‘Yun pala, may plano silang ‘wag ituloy muna. Ano ba talaga?” Tulfo said, referring to what he described as the contradictory positions of some minority members.
Tulfo did not name the senators he was referring to. Pressed on their identities, he suggested it was evident from those seeking to block the probe. “Obvious… Alam mo naman kung sino ‘yung pinaiimbestigahan, tinutumbok ni Sen. Lacson,” he said, pointing to individuals flagged in Senator Panfilo Lacson’s earlier findings.
The remarks come amid a prolonged tug-of-war within the chamber over the direction and control of the flood control inquiry. Tulfo took over as Blue Ribbon chairman from Lacson following a leadership shakeup, and designated Senator Francis Pangilinan to lead a subcommittee handling the flood control matters after announcing he would inhibit himself, having been implicated by alleged former security aides of resigned party-list representative Zaldy Co.
Lacson’s leadership of the probe had earlier produced a partial committee report recommending further investigation and possible charges against several current and former lawmakers, but it stalled for months after failing to secure the nine signatures needed to advance it to the plenary. Minority senators, some of whom were named in the draft as alleged beneficiaries of kickbacks, have consistently declined to sign and have contested the report’s scope.
Tulfo has said the committee would formally reconstitute its membership on July 27, the opening of the new session, before resuming hearings with a focus on new leads.
