Tulfo: No authorized Senate blue ribbon panel hearing on June 16

MANILA, Philippines – No Senate blue ribbon committee hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, the panel’s chairperson, Sen. Erwin Tulfo, clarified on Monday.

Tulfo, along with the Blue Ribbon Oversight Office Management, confirmed this, contrary to the social media post of former Congressman Mike Defensor, who announced that there would be a hearing on the flood control scam outside Senate premises on Tuesday.

“The public and all concerned stakeholders are hereby advised that no hearing of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (blue ribbon committee) has been scheduled for June 16, 2026,” the announcement signed by Tulfo read.

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“The recent announcements made by former congressman Mike Defensor regarding an alleged hearing on said date were made without authority and approval of the committee,” he added.

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READ: Blue ribbon: Pia Cayetano has plans, but Erwin Tulfo has say

The panel tagged Defensor’s announcement as “misinformation,” explaining that the former lawmaker has “no legal standing to announce any proceeding on behalf of the Senate.”

Defensor’s announcement was alluding to the blue ribbon panel headed by Sen. Pia Cayetano, which was dissolved on June 3 when a new majority was formed. Tulfo was subsequently elected in place of Cayetano on the same day.

In a text message to the Inquirer, a staffer of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta said Defensor’s declaration is “confirmed,” but no details have been disclosed as of writing.

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Marcoleta presided over the previous Cayetano-wing hearing despite the absence of a secretariat and a stenographer.

READ: 18 alleged ‘bodyguards’ snub Tulfo-led blue ribbon panel meeting

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Tulfo, in a phone patch interview with reporters, called the Cayetano wing’s panel hearing a “sham,” but said that if it were only a gathering, it would not be illegal.

He also warned that Defensor may face a case for “usurpation of authority” over his announcement.

“Unless he says, ‘I just posted it because the minority or Senator Cayetano’s group ordered me to, so I just posted it, I just shared it’,” he said in Filipino.

Among those at the center of the blue ribbon panel’s flood control probe are the 18 alleged former bagmen and bodyguards of ex-congressman Zaldy Co.

The supposed bagmen came out with a testimony in February alleging that they delivered P805 billion in flood control kickbacks to several public officials.

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Four months later, Defensor was accused of bribing Co’s supposed employees with P5 million, according to a relative of one of the 18 individuals. /mcm