EX-DPWH CHIEF, SOUTH FORBES PARK PROPERTY MAYBE FOCUS OF NEXT BLUE RIBBON HEARING – LACSON 

EX-DPWH CHIEF, SOUTH FORBES PARK PROPERTY MAYBE FOCUS OF NEXT BLUE RIBBON HEARING – LACSON 

SENATE President Pro Tempore and Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said on Thursday said that unresolved issues involving former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan, as well as the acquisition of a house and lot at 30 Tamarind Road in South Forbes in Makati City in 2023 where contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II was involved, may be the focus of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s next hearing on the flood control mess.

Lacson said Bonoan still has much to explain, including a seeming “pattern” of wrong grid coordinates for flood control projects in the report Bonoan submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr..

“We can focus the next hearing on Bonoan to tackle other issues he can clarify. He is in the country so he can address the issues involving him,” he said in English and Filipino in an interview on DZMM radio.

He noted that in the last Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, DPWH Undersecretaries Arthur Bisnar and Ricardo Bernabe III showed data indicating a “clear pattern” on the submission of wrong grid coordinates.

Lacson said that if only a few out of the total number of flood control projects had wrong grid coordinates, it could have been considered inadvertent or a result of “negligence.”

But he pointed out that with over 86 percent of projects bearing wrong grid coordinates “we can say this is deliberate.”

Lacson said he is not discounting the possibility that the submission of wrong data could be meant not just to discredit the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website listing the locations of flood control projects – but also to undermine the prosecution of cases involving ghost flood control projects.

“For example, a case is filed using data from the Sumbong sa Pangulo website as evidence. The defense can question the website’s credibility. That is one possible long-term motive for submitting wrong data,” he said.

In a separate interview on DZBB, Lacson said that if Bonoan would be evasive in answering questions, he could be cited in contempt of the committee, and arrested and detained in the Senate.

“He could be detained, not just issued an arrest warrant,” he said.

SOUTH FORBES HOUSE

Meanwhile, Lacson said the Blue Ribbon Committee may also invite to its next hearing former Speaker Martin Romualdez or a representative of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to shed light on the purchase of a house and lot at 30 Tamarind Road in South Forbes in Makati City in 2023.

He said records showed the buyer of the house was Golden Pheasant Holdings Corp., whose major stockholder is Jose Raulito Paras. Paras has held high positions in at least three companies connected to the former Speaker.

“For the next Blue Ribbon hearing, we can invite Romualdez anew and course the invitation through Speaker Faustino Dy III. If he wants to attend he is welcome to come and air his side. But he cannot be forced to come due to inter-parliamentary courtesy,” Lacson said.

Lacson noted two staff of the house’s previous tenant had told the Blue Ribbon Committee last Monday that Discaya was the one who told them to vacate the house as they would prepare it for the new owner. They also positively identified Discaya at the hearing.

Paras will also be invited to the next hearing, so he can explain his capacity to buy the house, which is reportedly worth at least P1 billion, he added.

“We will invite attorney Paras and if he says Golden Pheasant and not former Speaker Romualdez bought the property, he can explain to the Bureau of Internal Revenue what his financial capacity is to buy the house, which is quite expensive,” he said.

“I am not saying this is enough to implicate the former Speaker. What I am saying is that it will provide leads to investigators because the Senate investigation is not for prosecution but is in aid of legislation. At the same time, we can forward the appropriate evidence to the investigating agencies,” he added.