Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Monday, Jan. 19, lashed out at detractors of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, bluntly telling them to “Shut the f… up!” as he opened the panel’s eighth public hearing on the alleged multibillion-peso anomalies in flood control projects. (Video courtesy of Senate of the Philippines)
00:00Good afternoon, my distinguished colleagues, Mr. Senate President, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Erwin Tulpo.
00:10We reconvene today for the eighth public hearing on the motu proprio inquiry in aid of legislation and investigation into the flood control anomaly,
00:21even as we are already finalizing the partial committee report to be routed to your offices as early as next week.
00:31Contrary to the lies and obfuscations that naysayers are trying to spread around,
00:37your Blue Ribbon Committee has accomplished so much since the flood control scandal broke wide open in the middle of last year.
00:45Since then, waves of information have dominated the national discourse at every level of our society, local and national.
00:57Lest we be drowned out by the rising tide of noise here and there,
01:02allow me to run down how much ground we have covered in the course of the committee's seven public hearings.
01:09Since the Bulacan First District Engineering Office was exposed as the epicenter of the biggest corruption saga in recent history,
01:20your committee was able to hear and record the sworn testimonies of DPWH District Engineer Henry Alcantara,
01:30Assistant District Engineer Bryce Hernandez, JP Mendoza, and the rest of the so-called BGC Boys,
01:37and laid bare their collective splurging of billions of pesos in several casinos,
01:44made possible by their indispensable roles in a mafia-like scheme,
01:50not from extortion for protection activities involving business establishments,
01:56but through an elaborate conspiracy in siphoning funds from the country's national budget
02:02intended for flood control projects to protect lives and properties of Filipinos in low-lying areas.
02:10Then, there was former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.
02:17Your committee followed the money and paper trails through skillful research and questioning by our members,
02:23which revealed the deep web of in-house contracting, bid rigging, padded contract costs, and license renting.
02:33This scam was so systematic and brazen, resulting in substandard infrastructure and worse, ghost flood control projects.
02:43In the hearings that followed, the case of Bulacan proved to be a gateway,
02:49the microcosm of a much more complex and institutionalized plunder within the bureaucracy.
02:57Your committee became the stage for shocking and scathing revelations made by the key actors of the flood control scam.
03:06We conduct these hearings with such fairness and integrity that those with the truth felt motivated to come forward to testify,
03:17while others became tentative and unsure of which path to trek.
03:22Let me emphasize one point.
03:25We always go where the evidence leads us.
03:28We do not target any particular person, nor do we have the intention to cover up for anybody.
03:37Thus, we uncovered the top-to-bottom systemic misuse and abuse of public funds involving high officials in the executive and legislative branches,
03:49even the Commission on Audit.
03:51As of the latest count, at least P21.7 billion.
04:20P21.7 billion in bank accounts and other forms of assets are frozen upon written order by the Court of Appeals.
04:28May mga sumasa ilalim na rin sa Witness Protection Program ng DOJ upang tumulong palakasin ang mga ebidensya
04:36habang nangangako na magre-restitute ng napagkasundoang halaga sa ilalim ng mga pinirmahang memorandum of agreement with the WPP
04:47tungo sa logical conclusion ng mga klasong plunder, malversation of public funds through falsification,
04:56violations of antigraft laws at iba pang krimen.
04:59We laid out how this deeply rooted scheme operates with systemic precision.
05:06It involves a network of actors, namely the contractors group who collude amongst themselves to rig public biddings
05:16and monopolize flood control projects, key DPWH coordinators who manage project allocations
05:24and orchestrate the collection and delivery of kickbacks and intermediaries, agents or bugmen
05:31who receive these illicit funds allegedly in behalf of their principals.
05:36Naging daan din ang mga pagdinig ng kumite upang mabuklat ang usapin ng conflict of interest
05:44sa Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board or PICAB.
05:48We also flag blacklisted companies resurfacing under new names, the rampant practice of license renting
05:57and the awarding of billion-peso contracts to severely under-capitalized firms.
06:03Modesty aside, but significantly, your committee paved the way for the implementation of landmark transparency reforms
06:13in our national budget process.
06:16This includes our transition to live-streamed and open BICAM that detailed budget amendments, insertions if you like,
06:26that are now traceable to their proponents.
06:29Not to mention, stricter safeguards to ensure that no vague or undefined infrastructure projects
06:37are included in the General Appropriations Act.
06:41Let this serve as a warning to skeptics, detractors, and hijackers
06:47who exploit the vulnerabilities and anger of our people
06:52to deepen the fault lines of our nation during these trying times.
06:57Your noise will not silence the truth, neither does it provide any help in our investigation.
07:05Your noise cannot convict and won't even indict the malefactors in this flood-control mess.
07:11Only evidence does.
07:14The Blue Ribbon Committee is not only insensitive to its members, but an insult to our fellow Filipinos
07:27who have consistently followed and monitored our hearings and participated in the trillion-peso march.
07:33The clergy, students, ordinary workers, and all concerned citizens who became aware and exposed to unbridled and systemic corruption,
07:44mainly made possible by the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings,
07:48and the media who serve as a powerful tool in bringing to the households, eateries, barbershops, etc.
07:56The details of each and every hearing of your Blue Ribbon Committee.
08:02With all that being said, as the chairman of this committee, I say to you,
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