Zaldy Co, Romualdez to be invited to next Blue Ribbon hearing
THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which is investigating anomalous flood control projects will invite recently resigned Rep. Zaldy Co and former Speaker Martin Romualdez to the next committee hearing to debunk perceptions that the panel is “targeting, favoring, or even protecting” some individuals, Senate President pro tempore Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.
Co, of the party-list group Ako Bicol and former House appropriations committee chair, resigned as a member of the House of Representatives on Monday amid the controversies involving the flood control projects (FCPs), in which lawmakers were said to have amassed billions of pesos in kickbacks. He has been consistently named by contractors and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as among individuals who have allegedly benefitted from kickbacks from the anomalous and “ghost” FCPs.
Resource persons in the past committee hearings have tagged Romualdez in the kickbacks mess.
“For the next hearing of the committee, we will send an invitation letter to his (Co’s) address. Now we know he is abroad and will not show up. If that is the case, we will issue a subpoena, and then a show-cause order,” Lacson, Blue Ribbon chair, said in mixed Filipino and English in an interview on Net-25 TV.
Co is reportedly in Europe.
“If the show cause order is not satisfactory, we will cite him in contempt and issue a warrant for his arrest,” he added.
As to Romualdez, Lacson said the former House leader will be invited through Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III “in observation of the time-honored inter-parliamentary courtesy between the two houses of Congress.”
Last Monday, Sen. Francis Escudero hit Romualdez who, he said, is also getting kickbacks from anomalous FCPs but is trying to cover up the wrongdoing by manufacturing a “script” which will point only to senators, and not House members. He said Romualdez used Co as a sacrificial lamb to free him and his alleged cohorts from accountability.
INQUIRY TO CONTINUE
Lacson said the Blue Ribbon Committee is waiting for “some developments” in the case before scheduling the next hearing.
He said the panel will not terminate the inquiry as long there as “new major developments” that need to be looked into.
“If we stop the probe now, we may reinforce the perception rightly or wrongly that we are covering up for someone. No. I said it clearly, we will go where the evidence leads us… I will not be distracted by the noise that I am partial, that I am covering up or targeting someone. Mu guiding principle is to go where the evidence leads me and to do the right thing,” he said.
“Nobody is being targeted. Neither will anyone be shielded or spared. No matter how unpopular, even painful for me to hear the names of my colleagues being implicated by resource persons, I will not be deterred,” he added.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said Co should better show up so he can clarify the issues. Otherwise, he added, people may conclude that he guilty of the accusations.
Dela Rosa also said an online attendance to the hearing will be inappropriate.
WAKEUP CALL
Lacson said his revelations that senators and congressmen had humongous insertions in the 2025 national budget was not meant to shame them, but to give them the chance to redeem themselves by ensuring a pork-free national budget for 2026 and beyond.
Lacson said he explained this to his colleagues when they held a caucus on Monday after some senators aired their concerns that his disclosure on the budget insertions could affect the institution.
“I can actually feel and understand completely the sentiments expressed by my colleagues, at least the members of the majority bloc during our majority caucus yesterday (Monday). So, I explained to them that the mention of ‘almost all senators’ was not intended to out them or the whole Senate on the spot nor did I have the intention of calling them out particularly,” he said.
Lacson on Sunday said “almost all of the senators of the 19th Congress” had budget insertions in the 2025 national budget amounting to around P100 billion. On Monday, he said insertions from House members “much, much more” but did not give any amount.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday said that not all insertions or amendments are illegal if they were done in the plenary.
Lacson said: “The overarching reason for my disclosure or revelation was to point out that we must accept the fact that we are all in crisis owing to the recent anomalies involving the substandard and even ghost flood control projects unearthed in the course of the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings and other similar investigations.”
He said this is also the opportune time for the Senate to lead by example for a truly transparent national budget.
He said questionable insertions could threaten the economy because diverted or withheld funds could have gone to lawmakers’ pet projects instead of planned and vetted projects at the barangay, city, and regional levels.
In the case of foreign-assisted projects, he said, once local counterpart funds are diverted in favor of pet projects, it could endanger the project and embarrass the country before its foreign partners.
TRUSTED MAN
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla assured Escudero and the public that the allegations linking Romualdez to alleged kickbacks will be fully investigated.
He also said rejected Escudero’s claim that authorities are going easy on the former speaker.
Escudero, in a manifestation on Monday, questioned the absence of Romualdez and the other congressmen in ongoing inquiries despite mention of their names in affidavits and testimonies.
“There is no truth to that. We are already studying all of these, liability-wise. We all know that Zaldy Co, as the chairman of appropriations panel, was the (former) speaker’s choice. We all know that. He is trusted by the speaker. So, we can see there’s something wrong here with what is happening right now,” he said in Filipino in an interview.
Retired Marine Orly Regasa Guteza, a former VIP security for Co, told the Blue Ribbon hearing last week he has delivered 37 pieces of luggage containing cash amounting to P1.7 billion to Romualdez’ Makati residence.
Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has no information on the whereabouts of Guteza who was presented to the panel by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta.
Guteza has made himself scarce after appearing at the inquiry. He was a no-show Friday at the DOJ for his request to be included in the government’s Witness Protection Program.
He said that those who brought Guteza to the Senate, particularly Marcoleta, should help locate him, ensure his safety, and make sure he is available to authorities.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections said Escudero is not being singled out in its ongoing investigation on possible prohibited campaign contributions.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said all candidates in the 2022 polls are being probed.
“With all due respect, the claim that we are singling out someone is not true… Sen Chiz was only identified ahead of everyone else because the contractor admitted it and he also admitted that he received donations,” Garcia said.
Escudero has confirmed that Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., was a campaign contributor in the 2022 elections. Lubiano also said he donated P30 million to Escudero’s senatorial campaign while his firm held several government contracts. – With Ashzel Hachero and Gerard Naval
