Senator Erwin Tulfo said on Monday, Feb. 9, that some members of the majority bloc held a consultation meeting with representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to exchange notes and ideas as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee polishes its draft report on the anomalous flood control projects.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano and Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon were present.

Tulfo said the meeting was attended by Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Loren Legarda, Raffy Tulfo, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Blue Ribbon Committee chair Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who arrived later.

“Well, nag-exchange lang ng notes and ideas. Nagpa-briefing din, hindi naman lahat ng committee members...Parang it's like a consultation, yung direction because tapos na nga yung committee hearing so pino-polish na lang yung committee report kasi draft lang yung una eh (Well, we just exchanged notes and ideas. There was also a briefing, though not all committee members were present. It was like a consultation on the direction, since the committee hearings are already finished and they are now just polishing the committee report because the first version was only a draft),” Tulfo said.

He said the consultation aimed to ensure that committee members are aligned and moving in one direction as they finalize the draft report.

“Yes, para in sync kami tsaka one direction (Yes, so that we are in sync and moving in one direction)," he said.

Asked whether the recommendation in the draft report against three senators would be retained, Tulfo said he raised concerns about whether authorities already have strong cases.

“Ang napag-usapan lang, do we have enough parang ganun yung sa AMLC, sa DOJ and then sa Ombudsman. My question was, do we have an airtight case, kasi sayang, kung hindi naman, what are we talking about here? Wala naman tayo airtight case laban sa mga ito, that was the question that I raised (What we mainly discussed was whether we have enough, particularly from the AMLC, the DOJ, and the Ombudsman. My question was, do we have an airtight case? Because if we don’t, then what are we talking about here? We don’t have an airtight case against these people—that was the question I raised),” he said.

Tulfo said officials from the DOJ and Ombudsman assured them that warrants of arrest would not be issued without strong evidence.

He added that he raised concerns about a possible repeat of the case involving businesswoman Janet Napoles, which was dismissed due to weak evidence.

“Sabi ko, because this is like a deja vu of kay Janet Napoles na na-dismiss lang din kasi mahina. Sa akin, concerned, baka ganito din mahina din naman, ‘di ba so, we are wasting our time wasting our efforts, your effort, the Blue Ribbon, etc, etc (I said that this is like déjà vu with Janet Napoles, whose case was dismissed because it was weak. I am concerned that this might also turn out to be weak, so we would just be wasting our time and efforts—your effort, the Blue Ribbon Committee’s effort, and so on),” Tulfo said.

He said he also asked about conviction rates, with officials expressing confidence in their cases.

“And I even asked them the batting rate ng conviction versus dismissal. Sabi naman nila, confident sila (They said they're confident),” he said.

Tulfo said Legarda also raised concerns about the possibility of trial by publicity.

He added that the meeting did not produce any formal assurances, describing it instead as an exchange of views and opinions.

“No, we're just exchanging views. We're just exchanging opinion, ideas,” he said, adding that he left the meeting early due to another engagement.

Asked whether the draft committee report could already secure the required 11 signatures to be brought to the plenary, Tulfo said he has not yet read the document.

Tulfo said reactions among senators to the draft report were mixed.

“May iba na hesitant kasi parang they're saying like, parang kagaya ko, may kulang, parang malamya, etc. Yung iba kulang, yung iba malamya, something like that. Yung iba naman very strong worded. So iba-iba yung reactions (Some are hesitant because, like me, they feel that something is lacking or that it seems weak. Some say it lacks substance, others say it’s weak—something like that. Others, however, say it is very strongly worded. So the reactions vary),” he said.

He said it remains uncertain whether the report would be tackled in the plenary session.