MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Monday said Congress should be held primarily accountable for the systemic corruption in flood control projects because the budget insertions were done by lawmakers.
“Congress is the original sin here. If congressmen and senators did not insert funds, there would be no funds for corrupt Department of Public Works and Highways officials to play with, especially in the district engineering offices,” Lacson said in a radio interview.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which Lacson chairs, is set to resume hearings on Tuesday, September 23, at 9 a.m. He said he has asked Senate President Vicente Sotto III to delay the regular session to 4 p.m. to accommodate the proceedings.
Lacson said the probe will not stop at dismissed engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez, Syms Construction owner Sally Santos, and contractors Cezarah and Pacifico Discaya II, all of whom have faced the panel. Alcantara and Pacifico Discaya II were cited in contempt last week for refusing to cooperate.
The committee is also analyzing boxes of documents Hernandez retrieved from his home under Senate guard, which he claimed could back allegations of budget insertions and kickbacks. Hernandez earlier linked Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada to the scheme, but both lawmakers denied the accusations.
Lacson said former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who appointed Alcantara to the Bulacan district office, has been summoned to testify.
He added that evidence relevant to the parallel investigation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) would be shared immediately. “We will not keep evidence to ourselves. We will help,” the senator said.
