Lacson resigns

Some senators' disapproval of Blue Ribbon's direction cited

- BY HANNAH L. TORREGOZA

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Monday, Oct. 6, formally submitted his resignation as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

In his letter to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Lacson cited the disapproval of some of his colleagues in the panel’s ongoing investigation into the anomalous flood control projects as the reason for resigning as chairman of the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations, also known as the Blue Ribbon Committee.

“In the course of the current investigation, which has implicated some senators in the flood control mess, a number of our colleagues have expressed disappointment with the 'direction' of the Blue Ribbon Committee, which this representation chairs," Lacson said in his letter to the Senate leader. "Furthermore, some senators publicly and secretly pursue the narrative that I am zeroing in on several of my colleagues while purportedly protecting those members of the Lower House perceived to be the principal actors in the budget anomalies related to the substandard and ghost flood control projects." "Nothing could be further from the truth. This narrative is categorically false. These misrepresentations are being floated mostly by critics opposed to our efforts to get to the bottom of the flood control anomalies. We go where the evidence leads us, not by the noise coming from highly partisan political persuasions," added the lawmaker.