Eight months and nine days — or 252 days — after the Senate blue ribbon committee opened its first hearing on alleged corruption in flood control projects, the much-anticipated committee report remains stuck in political limbo.

Why? Several senators still won’t sign the report.

So, what’s blue ribbon committee chair Ping Lacson’s workaround? Instead of waiting in vain for reluctant colleagues, Lacson said he will deliver the findings himself through a privilege speech when session resumes in May.

Lacson said this would allow the Senate to revisit the flood control controversy, as the partial committee report has yet to secure enough signatures for formal filing and plenary sponsorship.

“I will present it via a privilege speech entitled ‘The Chairman’s FCP [Flood Control Project] Progress Report.’ At least if it’s a privilege speech — since some members don’t want to sign — I don’t have to consult them,” he said in a statement on Monday, April 27.

As of Monday, the partial report has only six signatures — three short of the nine required for filing and sponsorship.

Lacson said that once presented in plenary, the Chairman’s Progress Report — which contains the partial report’s findings — may be forwarded to the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Aside from Lacson, the five others who have signed the report are Senate President Vicente Sotto III and senators Erwin Tulfo, Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan, and Risa Hontiveros — all members of the majority.

Among the panel members who have not signed the report are those linked to the very flood control controversy under investigation: senators Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, and Mark Villar.

Although not a member of the blue ribbon committee, Senator Chiz Escudero also allegedly received kickbacks. A Rappler investigation previously revealed that Escudero’s campaign donor is also among the flood control contractors under the Marcos administration. 

Also yet to sign is Senator Rodante Marcoleta, the committee’s former chair. Marcoleta’s non-signature is particularly notable given his history with Lacson.

At the start of the 20th Congress, Marcoleta led the blue ribbon committee. But a Senate leadership shakeup followed after Escudero was ousted as Senate president amid links to the flood control controversy, paving the way for Sotto’s takeover.

The reshuffle also changed committee leadership: Marcoleta was removed from the blue ribbon, and Lacson assumed the chairmanship.

But Lacson’s own stint was anything but smooth.

Barely a month after taking over, Lacson resigned, saying some fellow senators questioned how he handled the hearings, despite his insistence that he conducted them properly.

A little over a month, Lacson returned as head of the blue ribbon committee.

In recent months, the Senate blue ribbon committee hearings have exposed alleged multi-million-peso kickbacks involving politicians, contractors, and government officials.

But if so much has already come out in the open, what’s in the committee report that’s making some senators hesitate to put their names on it? – Rappler.com