THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has invited former House Speaker and Leyte First District Representative Martin Romualdez to the resumption of its inquiry into irregularities in flood control projects.
Also invited in the hearing were the alleged 18 former Marines who supposedly corroborated the pronouncement of their comrade, and retired Sergeant Orly Guteza, who earlier testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation on the irregularities in the implementation of flood control projects.
Guteza said from December 5, 2024 to August 2025, when he served as one of former Ako Bicol Partylist representative Zaldy Co’s security personnel, he delivered luggage containing millions worth of cash, which they call “trash,” to Romualdez’s residences in Pasig and Taguig at least three times.
Officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways, Office of the Ombudsman, Department of Justice, and Department of Budget and Management were also invited.
“We look forward to the cooperation of all invited resource persons and agencies as the Committee carries out its mandate in aid of legislation and public accountability,” Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson Senator Pia Cayetano said in a statement.
On April 15, then Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairperson Senator Panfilo Lacson suspended further panel’s hearings, arguing that the inquiry had already gathered substantial evidence and that the panel needed to produce a formal committee report before continuing.
He said Senate investigations conducted in aid of legislation should culminate in findings and recommendations rather than continue indefinitely.
The committee's partial report reportedly contained findings from months of hearings involving former public works officials, contractors, whistleblowers and lawmakers linked to alleged irregularities in flood control projects worth billions of pesos.
The inquiry examined accusations involving budget insertions, kickbacks, project allocations and the alleged misuse of public funds.
The panel recommended in its draft report criminal and administrative investigations against several incumbent and former officials allegedly implicated by testimony and documentary evidence presented during the hearings.
Among those named in various versions of the draft report wereSenators Francis Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, as well as former senator Bong Revilla, Romualdez, Co, and other personalities.
Those named have denied wrongdoing.
Under Senate rules, the committee needed at least nine signatures from members before the report could be formally sponsored in plenary. By early May, only seven senators had signed the partial report.
Despite the report not being formally adopted by the committee, Lacson transmitted its findings and supporting documents to the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice.
Lacson ensured that the committee's work would not be wasted because its evidence had already contributed to ongoing fact-finding and case-building efforts by government investigators.
Lacson was replaced by Cayetano as the panel’s chairperson following the change of leadership in the chamber. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)