MANILA, Philippines – Sinabi ni Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson nitong Martes, Pebrero 10 na itinatama ng Senate blue ribbon committee ang gamit ng mga salita sa report sa imbestigasyon nito ng maanomalyang flood control projects na nag-ugnay sa tatlong mga kasamahan nito at tatlong dating mambabatas.
Sa panayam kay Lacson, chairman ng komite, sa halip na irekomenda ang paghain ng plunder at iba pang criminal charges laban kina Senador Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, at Joel Villanueva, irerekomenda na lamang ng komite ang isang “preliminary investigation.”
Ayon kay Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, aniya ay bahagi ng politika na magkaroon ng negosasyon at kompromiso.
“It’s like this. The connotation, for example, in the draft that was initially routed, there was a word there: ‘charged.’ When you say ‘charged’ to a layman, it sounds like the person is already in court,” paliwanag naman ni Lacson.
“So we specified that instead of using the word ‘charged’ or ‘to be charged,’ it should say ‘to undergo preliminary investigation,’ ‘to undergo fact-finding investigation,’ or ‘to undergo case buildup.’ Things like that,” dagdag pa ng senador.
“We cannot recommend to the court that someone be charged because only the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman are authorized to file the information for any person to be charged before the court.”
“So we just corrected that, because to be charged is a generic term. But in the minds of laymen—ordinary people like us—it immediately comes across as you’ve already been charged in court,” aniya.
Sa kabila ng pagbabago, nanindigan si Lacson na ang rekomendasyon ng komite ay hindi humina o gumaan.
“There was nothing substantial changed. We never deviated from the original intent of our committee report [for the subjects] to undergo a preliminary investigation,” sinabi ni Lacson.
“It’s still the same; only the language.”
Itinanggi ni Lacson na ang pagbabago ay dahil sa hindi pangsang-ayon ng ilang miyembro ng minority bloc o ang tangkang pagpapatalsik kay Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
“That was just from the majority. My colleagues in the majority suggested that maybe the language could be softened without sacrificing the intent or changing the substance, because, as I said, I have a baseline. Bottom line, I really would not report out something I don’t believe in.”
Umaasa si Lacson na sa mga naging pagbabago ay makakakuha ang naturang hakbang ng 11 na pirma mula sa mga kasamahan para maisulong ito sa plenaryo. RNT/JGC
