Lacson: Partial flood control report may be 'archived' if 9 signatures not gathered

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said Friday that the Blue Ribbon Committee's partial report on the flood control controversy may be placed in the archives if enough signatures are not gathered by the time Congress adjourns sine die in June. 

Lacson, chairman of the committee, said this upon confirming that only four out of nine senators have signed the partial report, as of Friday morning. This includes himself, Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Kiko Pangilinan.

“Kung matatapos ‘yung first regular session, magsi-sine die kami, maa-archive ‘yun o kaya kung merong magmo-motion na i-archive, maa-archive ‘yun,” Lacson said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview when asked what will happen to the report if the nine signatures are not gathered. 

(If the first regular session adjourns sine die or if someone makes a motion to archive it, it will be archived.) 

“Pero it will take a motion on the floor, sa plenaryo mismo, bago ‘yun ma-archive. Otherwise, naka-tengga lang ‘yun, naghihintay na makuha ‘yung required number of signatures,” he added. 

(But it will take a motion on the floor, in the plenary itself, before it is archived. Otherwise, the report will just be sitting there, waiting to get the required number of signatures.) 

The first regular session of the 20th Congress is set to adjourn sine die on June 5, 2026, and the second regular session will commence in July. 

Nevertheless, Lacson remains optimistic that the partial blue ribbon committee report will gather enough signatures from its members in order for it to be tackled, and possibly adopted, in the plenary.

“Sa tingin ko makukuha kasi kung meron nang apat, lima na lang ‘yung kailangang pumirma. Baka pwedeng mapakiusapan…at least sa majority bloc, na makakukha pa ng lima pa,” he said. 

(I think it's possible because if there are four signatures already, only five more senators need to sign. Maybe we can ask...at least the majority bloc, if we can get five more signatures.) 

Lacson also said he intends to personally talk to Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri about the matter on Monday next week. 

Zubiri is among the senators who earlier withdrew their signatures from the draft report of the committee due to certain concerns about the language used. 

Upon revising, Lacson assured that the adjustments in the language would not weaken the recommendations under the partial report.

Asked why he is seemingly having a hard time getting other senators to sign the report, he said, “Hindi ko makuwestiyon ‘yung motibo at dahilan ng aking mga kasamahan kasi ipinapaubaya ko sa kanila ‘yung desisyon, ‘yung diskresyon kung pipirmahan nila o hindi o kung kailan nila pipirmahan.”

(I cannot question the motives and reasons of my colleagues because I leave it to them to decide, to make their own decisions on whether or not they would sign or when they would do so.) 

“After all, medyo sensitibo ‘yung committee report. May mga nasasangkot na mga kasamahan namin kaya ipagpaubaya na lang sa kanila ‘yung desisyon. Kaya hindi ako namimilit sa kanila.”

(After all, the committee report is quite sensitive. Some of our colleagues are involved, so let's just leave the decision to my colleagues. That's why I'm not pressuring them to sign.) 

Lacson previously said that the Blue Ribbon report will likely recommend the filing of criminal and administrative charges against senators and former lawmakers in connection with its investigation into anomalous flood control projects.

This includes Senators Francis "Chiz" Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada, as well as former Senator Bong Revilla, former Ako Bicol Party-List Representative Zaldy Co, and former Caloocan Representative Mitch Cajayon-Uy. —RSJ/LDF, GMA Integrated News