Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, on Saturday, Nov. 15, reminded the public to be cautious in assessing statements circulating online and from various personalities, as he emphasized the standard of “zero accountability, zero credibility".

Sotto gave this response to Usapang Senado at DWIZ, when asked about the growing uncertainty and conflicting narratives in the upper echelons of Philippine politics.

He stressed that scrutiny was essential, especially on social media. At any rate, he says that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, upholds a consistent practice of requiring testimonies under oath.

He noted that many of the statements spreading publicly do not meet that standard.

"Hindi basta-basta lahat sinabi ng ibang tao ay pwede nating paniwalaan. Sabi ko nga kanina, zero accountability, zero credibility (Not everything other people say should be believed just like that. As I said earlier, zero accountability, zero credibility)," he said.

“Unang tanong nga nila, under oath ba? Kaya kailangan talaga ingat tayo. Ingat tayo sa lahat ng mga sinasabi (The first thing they ask is, ‘Was it made under oath?’ That’s why we really need to be careful. We need to be careful with everything that’s being said),” Sotto added.

He said this amid the release of "Part 2" of former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co's video exposés regarding the flood control projects corruption scandal.

During the recent flood control hearing, Sotto took note of portions of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo's supplemental affidavit wherein he merely referred to the staff of former senator Grace Poe, and when he used the word "presumably" when he mentioned Senator Mark Villar.

"Staff ni Grace Poe yung kausap, hindi si Grace Poe (The one you were talking to was Grace Poe’s staff, not Grace Poe herself)," he said.

Poe was among the new names floated by Bernardo in his supplemental affidavit. According to him, it was a certain J.Y. Dela Rosa, a staff member of then-Senator Poe, who requested a list of projects. Bernardo alleged there was a “20 percent commitment collected” for the senator.

However, it was a certain Mrs. Patron, a contractor, who collected the commitment for Poe at the Diamond Hotel from one of his aides.

Poe has issued a statement stating that she has never been involved in corruption.

Bernardo himself acknowledged that there's no longer any paper trail of the payoffs.

“I would like to make clear that while the facts narrated below are based on my direct personal knowledge and fortified by official DPWH records, the kickback scheme pertaining to the collection and hand off of the commitments to the relevant public officers occur practically without any paper trail," he said in the affidavit.

Lacson even pointed out the difficulty of validating Bernardo’s narrative in the absence of concrete evidence.

"Yun ang sinasabi ko sa kanya when I talk to him [Bernardo]. Kung magsasabi ka ng pangalan, kailan meron kang pinanghahawakan na mailileak mo yung pangalan na hawak mong dokumento. Kung wala, huwag mo nalang sabihin (That’s what I tell him when I talk to him. If you’re going to name someone, you should have something solid to back it up—something in the document you’re holding that you can reveal. If you don’t have that, then just don’t say it)," Lacson said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian likewise stressed the importance of substantiation.

“Maraming accusations doon na kailangan ma-substantiate din (There are many accusations in the affidavit that also need to be substantiated),” Gatchalian said.

Meanwhile, he said that inviting Poe or Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara to the hearing would be up for discussion.

“Pagusapan muna namin mabuti kung magkakaroon pa ng next hearing, I think meron din mga usapan na ito na ang huling hearing at ipapaubaya sa ICI (We still have to discuss carefully whether there will be another hearing. I think there are also talks that this might be the last hearing and that the matter will be left to the ICI),” he said.