Gatchalian: Flood probe to continue if there are new testimonies

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The Senate blue ribbon committee’s inquiry into alleged irregularities in flood control projects may continue if new pieces of evidence emerge and additional witnesses come forward, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said on Friday.

“It can still proceed if new evidence and new witnesses emerge because, if we recall, the report submitted by Senator [Ping] Lacson was only a partial report so it can still continue,” Gatchalian said in an interview with DZMM.

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READ: ‘Flood control probe may continue if new witnesses, evidence emerge’

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“What is important here is that if there is new evidence or new witnesses, they should submit affidavits and documents so the committee can study them,” he added.

Gatchalian made the remark when asked whether the Senate would continue the investigation following the recent leadership change. He was elected Senate president last Wednesday after securing 13 votes.

Weeks prior, however, the leadership dispute between him and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has divided the upper chamber into two factions, with both blocs conducting separate hearings on the flood control issue.

The Cayetano bloc called a hearing on June 4, when 18 men represented by lawyer Levito Baligod made allegations linking several public officials to the corruption scandal.

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‘Mockery’

Days later, on June 8, the reorganized committee under Sen. Erwin Tulfo invited the same group to attend a consultative meeting.

While the 18 men appeared at the Senate complex, they did not attend the proceedings and instead proceeded to the office of Sen. Robinhood Padilla.

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Referring to the incident, Gatchalian said the group had already been given the opportunity to present its claims before the Senate.

“That was insulting and, to me, it made a mockery of the hearing. It also wasted the opportunity to tell the truth,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, they were given the opportunity, but they wasted it.”

“The truth does not choose sides. Whether the chairman is your ally, not your ally, or someone you do not even know, you should tell the truth,” he added.

Gatchalian also cautioned against using Senate inquiries as venues for unsubstantiated accusations.

“What we do not want is for the committee to be used merely for accusations. It is easy to accuse, but what is important is evidence and testimony,” he said.

Public record

The blue ribbon panel’s probe into alleged corruption in flood control projects started on Aug. 19, 2025, under then chair Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. In September, Lacson took over Marcoleta’s post after a leadership shake-up and resumed the investigation.

On Feb. 11, the committee distributed to its 17 members the partial report containing the findings based on seven hearings, but only seven senators out of the required nine have signed so it can be sponsored in plenary.

Apart from Lacson and Tulfo, the other signatories to date are Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Raffy Tulfo.

On May 5, Lacson delivered a privilege speech on the report, making its contents part of public record.

Cayetano, meanwhile, has accused the new Senate majority of “covering up” the truth about the flood control issue, stating that his bloc was the one seeking to “uncover the truth.”

Hontiveros, however, said the former Senate president’s statement was “lacking in fairness” and that the new majority had continued and remained committed to pursuing the inquiry.

“There is absolutely no cover-up on the part of the new majority,” Hontiveros said in an interview on Friday in Cebu City. She added that the 18 former bodyguards would again be invited to testify before Tulfo’s committee.

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“By then, they would be obliged to appear and honor the invitation so there would no longer be any need for the committee to issue subpoenas against them,” she said.