Senate President Pro Tempore and Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Panfilo “Ping” Lacson rejected the so-called “minority report” on the flood control controversy, saying it disrespects both the committee and the entire Senate.
“How will I respect a document that symbolizes disrespect towards the Blue Ribbon Committee and the entire Senate?” Lacson said, stressing that there is only one Senate panel authorized to investigate the issue.
Lacson said that under the Senate rules, only the Blue Ribbon Committee can submit a committee report, and only after it has been signed by a majority of its members—not by six senators from the minority bloc. “Respect begets respect. How will I as Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee treat with respect a document that symbolizes disrespect toward the Blue Ribbon Committee and the entire Senate both of which they are members?” he said in a mix of English and Filipino in an interview on DZMM.
“So there is no other place for that ‘minority report’ but the trash bin,” Lacson added.
Asked in a separate interview on GTV’s Balitanghali whether he had read the document, Lacson replied bluntly: “No, I did not.”
Lacson was referring to the 576-page report presented by minority senators to the media last week, which was submitted to the Office of the Senate President on December 10 and first aired publicly in a media forum the following day.
In another interview on DZBB, Lacson said minority senators—many of them veteran lawmakers—should know that their inputs could be raised through amendments to the official committee report. “They can introduce amendments to the committee report that will be adopted on the floor—not come up with their own version of a ‘report’. Is that not a show of disrespect?” he said.
Lacson also took issue with repeated criticisms by minority members of the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings, noting that they are committee members themselves and could attend and question resource persons. “They are members of the committee but now they are nitpicking our hearings. Being members, why don’t they just attend and show the evidence they claim to have?” he said, adding that criticism should be constructive and not meant to undermine the panel.
He further said the committee’s hearings had helped build cases now pending in court against several individuals. “So the Blue Ribbon Committee was a great help in addressing the issue. For some to belittle it, that is an insult to the entire Senate,” Lacson said.
When asked about Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s remark that the “minority report” appeared intended for media mileage, Lacson agreed. “That is the only purpose of the ‘report’,” he said, adding that it was “not worth discussing because it is not in the rules.”
