The expendables

Since his ouster as Senate president, Francis Escudero has largely kept to himself. Until last Monday, when he came out swinging - against resigned House speaker Martin Romualdez.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

What got Senator Chiz in a fighting mood, it seems, was Romualdez being spared (so far) from recommendations for criminal indictments in connection with the mangling of the national budget and flood control corruption.

Romualdez has also not been mentioned among the lawmakers who are being probed by the Commission on Elections for receiving campaign contributions from contractors doing business with the government.

Pro-Duterte senators have complained that a witness presented at a Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta (reportedly without the courtesy of a heads up to panel chair Panfilo Lacson) has not been taken seriously by probers.

The witness, ex-Marine bodyguard Orly Guteza, had tagged both Romualdez and Zaldy Co in alleged massive kickbacks delivered to their homes in cold cash. Guteza was reportedly introduced to Marcoleta by former Quezon City congressman Michael Defensor, a Cabinet member during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, no fan of Romualdez.

Guteza must face state prosecutors or the National Bureau of Investigation to assess his testimony for possible criminal indictments against those he implicated. But he was a no-show at the NBI last week, and has made himself scarce.

Both Escudero and Romualdez are casualties of the flood control mess. Before their fall from their leadership posts in Congress, the two had already been pointing fingers at each other's chambers in the scandal over the "most corrupt budget ever," the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Escudero, in his fighting speech last Monday, sounded petulant in the theme of his message: why single out senators? Why only me?