15/03/2026
AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR PING LACSON AND SENATE PRESIDENT TITO SOTTO
๐ฅ MAKE THE BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE REPORT PUBLIC
Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, Chairman, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III
Senators,
The Filipino people are asking one simple thing: release the Blue Ribbon Committee report on the flood control scandal. Not next month. Not after more caucuses. Now.
Here is where things stand, and why Filipinos have every reason to demand transparency.
๐ฅ THE FACTS ARE NOT IN DISPUTE
Finance Secretary Raph Recto told the Senate that up to 118.5 billion pesos, roughly $2 billion, in flood control funding may have been lost to corruption. President Marcos himself admitted that many of the more than 10,000 flood control projects under his administration were built with substandard materials or never built at all, calling them "ghost projects."
The Blue Ribbon Committee, under Senator Lacson's chairmanship, conducted multiple public hearings starting in September 2025. Whistleblowers from the Department of Public Works and Highways testified under oath. They named names. They named senators. They named congressmen. They named contractors.
The draft partial report recommends that Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, and Chiz Escudero undergo preliminary investigation for plunder, direct bribery, malversation, violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and breaches of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards. Former senator B**g Revilla, fugitive former congressman Zaldy Co, and former representative Mitch Cajayon-Uy are also named.
The evidence has been gathered. The hearings have been held. The draft exists.
So why can't the Filipino people see it?
๐ฅ THE REPORT IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY PROCEDURE
Senator Sotto, you told the press on February 5, 2026: "It's merely a draft and thus not official. If other committee members haven't even reviewed or seen it, it cannot be disclosed."
Senator Lacson, you confirmed that as of March 11, 2026, only four out of nine required senators have signed the partial report: yourself, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Kiko Pangilinan. You need five more signatures before it can be brought to the Senate floor.
Meanwhile, three senators who initially signed, Juan Miguel Zubiri, JV Ejercito, and Sherwin Gatchalian, withdrew their signatures after the draft was leaked in early February. Senator Marcoleta refuses to sign, citing what you yourself called a "flimsy" excuse that the chairman hadn't signed yet, even though a physical copy with your signature was available in your office.
Kaya ayun. Nakatengga. The report sits there, unsigned, unreleased, while Filipinos drown in the next typhoon season.
๐ฅ THE CONSTITUTION IS CLEAR
Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution states: "The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, shall be afforded the citizen."
This provision is self-executing. No additional legislation is needed for it to apply. Every claim of exemption is liberally construed in favor of disclosure and strictly against confidentiality.
Lawyers Eldrige Marvin Aceron, Sikini Labastilla, and Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe filed a petition on February 4, 2026 demanding full disclosure of the draft report. When the Senate denied their request on February 23, they escalated to the Supreme Court on March 2, 2026, filing a petition for mandamus and certiorari.
Their argument is simple: findings of a public Senate investigation into multi-billion-peso flood control corruption, with recommendations of plunder charges against sitting senators, is unambiguously a matter of public concern.
They are right.
๐ฅ WHAT WE ARE ASKING
Senator Lacson, Senator Sotto, this letter does not question the integrity of the investigation. Senator Lacson, your privilege speech on March 10, 2026 showed your commitment to debunking false claims and defending the Blue Ribbon process. Your office has stated that the public deserves to see the findings.
We agree. So act on it.
To Senator Sotto: use your authority as Senate President to compel the committee members to act. Call a caucus. Require the remaining senators to state, publicly and on the record, whether they will sign or not and why. The Filipino people deserve to know which of their elected officials are blocking transparency on a scandal involving $2 billion of their money.
To Senator Lacson: you said yourself, "the substance will not change." You said the core of the report remains intact. If the evidence is solid, fight for its release. Push back against the senators stalling with procedural excuses.
To both of you: the Senate's internal rules should not override the Constitution. Hindi puwedeng mas mahalaga ang proseso kaysa sa katotohanan.
๐ฅ THE COST OF SILENCE
Typhoon Kalmaegi killed over 230 Filipinos. Flood control projects that were supposed to protect them were either never built or built with garbage materials. The flood control scandal wiped out 1.7 trillion pesos in stock market value in just three weeks. Contractors withdrew 457 million pesos in cash for kickback payments.
Every day this report stays locked in a Senate office is another day the people who stole from disaster victims face no accountability. Every unsigned page is a win for the senators, congressmen, and contractors who turned Filipino lives into profit.
Ang tanong lang naman: kaninong interes ba ang prinoprotektahan ng Senate?
Release the report.
Respectfully but firmly,
A Filipino citizen demanding accountability
