Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said members of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will discuss on Wednesday, February 4, the panel’s draft partial committee report on the ongoing investigation into the anomalous flood control projects. 

Lacson made the disclosure a day after a copy of the partial report supposedly made the rounds on social media. 

Lacson, who chairs the blue ribbon panel, said many of the committee's members preferred to discuss and understand the contents of the draft report before signing it.

“Maybe due to the complexity and sensitivity involving the issues and personalities mentioned in the draft committee report, many members prefer to discuss and understand the contents of the report before they affix their signatures. Others may want to include their inputs,” the senator said. 

“That being said, I am aware that the chairman is not the committee. In fact, it is composed of 17 regular and three ex-officio members. As such, the report needs at least 11 signatures to make it an official committee report to be deliberated in plenary,” he said.

Without the required signatories, he pointed out that "there can be no valid partial committee report to talk about."

“As the chairman, I am open to hear the suggestions/recommendations from the BRC members as long as everything is aligned with the practical realities, especially those already undergoing preliminary investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Ombudsman which the partial committee report merely restated as part of its recommendations,” he added.

Section 1, Article 5 of the rules of the Blue Ribbon Committee provides that all committee reports shall, before submission to the Senate, be "discussed, decided and approved by the Committee members.”

The committee report also must be signed by majority of all the members of the Committee; any dissenting member may signify his or her dissent in writing.

Also,Section 22 of the rules governing inquiries in aid of legislation states that the report shall be approved by a majority vote of all its members, and members may make concurring and dissenting reports who do not sign the majority report within 72 hours after the approval of the report.

These, Lacson said, is in accordance with the Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation.