Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Tuesday, February 10 that there would be slight changes in the language of the partial report of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the anomalous flood control projects.

According to Lacson, who heads the blue ribbon panel, this is to ensure clarity in the wordings of the document, which needs the signature of at least 11 senators before it is submitted to the plenary.

So in the case of Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, the draft report will use “preliminary investigation” instead of recommending the filing of charges against the incumbent senators.

“Ganito no, yung connotation, halimbawa sa draft na initially routed meron word doon na charged. ‘Recommended to be charged,’ sa layman kapag sinabing charged parang nasa korte na (Precisely because the connotation, for example in the draft that was initially routed for signature, there is the word ‘charge’. Recommended to be charged, in layman’s term if you say charged, it would seem it’s already in the court),” Lacson told reporters in an interview.

“So ini-specify na lang namin na (So we just specified that) instead of using the word charged or to be charged (is) to undergo preliminary investigation or to undergo fact-finding investigation; or to undergo case build up,” the senator said. 

“But walang nabago, walang substantive na na-revise. Pareho pa rin. Yun lang yung language (But nothing was changed, nothing substantive was revised. It’s still the same. Except the language),” he pointed out.

Lacson said recommending that the three senators undergo preliminary investigation is the same as recommending the filing of charges against them.

“Yun din naman talaga ang ibig sabihin doon. Hindi naman namin pwedeng i-recommend sa court na i-charge sa court kasi (It essentially means the same thing. We cannot recommend to the court that they be charged in court because) only the DOJ (Department of Justice) and the Ombudsman (that) are authorized to file the information for any person to be charged before the court,” he further explained.

“So kinorrect lang namin yun, kasi ang to be charged is generic yan pero ang connotation, pagdating sa laymen, ordinary people like us parang ang dating kaagad charged, naka-charge ka sa court (So we just corrected that word, because to be charged is generic but the connotation, when it comes to laymen, ordinary people like us would take it as they are immediately charged before the court),” he said.

“There’s nothing substantial (that was changed). We never deviated sa (from the) original intent ng aming (of our) committee report na mag undergo ng (for them to undergo) preliminary investigation,” he pointed out.

And in recommending that they undergo preliminary investigation, the three senators can be held liable for a number of possible cases.

“Marami (There would be many): direct bribery, merong plunder, malversation, violation ng anti graft, violation of ethical standards,” he said.

Nevertheless, Lacson said he is confident that the revised partial blue ribbon report on the flood control scandal would be able to gather at least 11 signatures from fellow senators. 

“I hope and I am confident na makaka-gather siya ng (the report can have) at least 11 signatures,” he said.