Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Saturday, Aug. 16, expressed confidence that Senator Rodante Marcoleta can act fairly as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee despite his ties to the Dutertes.

Asked in an interview on Usapang Senado over DWIZ if Marcoleta’s affiliation to the former first family would affect the panel’s work, Sotto said senators often rise above party lines once in office.

“Madalas, hindi naman lahat, hindi naman all the time. Madalas nasubukan ko yan mula noong ako’y naging senador noong 1992, kapag naging senador ka na, parang medyo naiiba yung takbo ng konti ng kaisipan mo eh (Most of the time, not always, not all the time. I’ve often experienced that since I became a senator in 1992—when you become a senator, your way of thinking changes a bit),” Sotto said.

“Parang pumapasok sa isip mo yung sinabi ni [Manuel] Quezon noong araw (It’s like what comes to mind is what Manuel Quezon once said): My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins,” he added.

He added that such shifts explain why some senators leave their political parties to act independently when they no longer agree with their group’s direction.

Sotto noted that Marcoleta himself is not a member of the Duterte-aligned party PDP-Laban despite being a member of the so-called "Duterte bloc" in the Senate.

Marcoleta will begin the Blue Ribbon panel's probe on anomalous flood control projects on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

Leading the inquiry will be a daunting task, Marcoleta admitted, considering the enormity of the multi-billion projects, and the complexity of untangling the web of corruption within the public works system. But the task can be accomplished with the cooperation of key resource persons and the help of the public, he added.

“Sa Martes uumpisahan ko na yung flood control investigation sa Blue Ribbon. Medyo challenging yan, mahirap talaga sa laki ng problemang kinakaharap natin d’yan (On Tuesday, I will begin the flood control investigation at the Blue Ribbon. That’s going to be quite challenging, as the problems we’re facing there are really immense),” the senator said on Net 25.

“Ngunit ako’y naniniwala na kaya nating imbestigahan yan. Makipag-cooperate lang ang taong bayan, matutukoy natin kung sino may mga kasalanan d’yan (But I believe we can investigate that. As long as the people cooperate, we will be able to identify who is at fault there),” he assured.

Marcoleta said that the probe will not focus solely on contractors in question, but will also try to uncover the public officials who shamelessly profit from flood control. In the end, he said it is entire communities that suffer from destructive flooding, due to the substandard projects.

He noted that after corrupt officials have taken their ‘cuts’ from the contractor, more than half the cost of the project would have already been spent. This ends up compromising the quality of the projects, he said.

Marcoleta has this message for contractors: “Sabihin n’yo kung magkano binibigay n'yo sa mga taong gobyerno para hindi kayo ang madidikdik d’yan. O yan lang muna ang aking masasabi (Tell us how much you’re giving to government people so that you won’t be the ones to take the hit there. That’s all I have to say for now).”

He also called on the public to help in the Senate inquiry.

“Lahat po ng mamamayan na may kakayahan na makipag-ugnayan sa aking opisina, basta po may maitutulong kayo tatanggapin po namin yan, lalong-lalo na ang mga information na reliable. May mga litrato po kayo, napaka importante po n’yan (All citizens who are able to coordinate with my office, as long as you have something to contribute, we will accept it—especially reliable information. If you have photos, those are very important),” said the senator.