By Politiko staff
Senator Erwin Tulfo revealed that a female senator confronted him inside the Senate after he signed a partial Blue Ribbon Committee report recommending a preliminary investigation into lawmakers linked to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
Tulfo, the newly installed chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said the report—initiated by his predecessor, Sen. Panfilo Lacson—faced strong resistance from allies of deposed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and ultimately failed to reach the plenary floor.
In an interview over DWIZ on Saturday, Tulfo recounted being questioned by a female colleague in the Senate executive lounge after news spread that he had signed the committee report in his capacity as vice chairperson.
“Iisa ang lenggwahe nila. ‘Parang hindi tayo magkakasama dito sa Senado. Magkakasama tayo.’ Ginanon ako ng isa. Babae pa,” Tulfo said.
According to Tulfo, the senator asked why he had signed the report. He responded that doing so was part of his responsibility as the committee’s vice chair.
“Sinabihan niya ako ng ‘Bakit ako pumirma?’ Sabi ko, ‘Sen, vice chair ako eh.’ Sabi ko, ‘Sorry, question-in ko na lang doon.’ ‘Ah, ganun ba?’ Inirapan na ako,” he said.
Tulfo did not identify the senator.
At the time, the female members of the Blue Ribbon Committee who did not sign the report were Senators Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, and Imee Marcos.
Tulfo also claimed that two male senators later confronted him over his decision to sign the document, although he likewise declined to identify them.
The report recommended further investigation into several lawmakers allegedly linked to anomalies in flood control projects. According to Tulfo, opposition to the report stemmed from concerns that it implicated political allies of the Cayetano bloc, including Senators Francis Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada.
Estrada is currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas while facing plunder charges before the Sandiganbayan over allegations that he received ₱573 million in kickbacks from flood control allocations. He has denied wrongdoing.
Tulfo said senators who disagreed with the report should have raised their objections through proper parliamentary procedures instead of confronting colleagues who signed it.
“May mga kasamahan kasi kami nagalit, yan doon sa grupo nila Senator Cayetano. Ayaw nilang pumirma kasi kasama ang mga kakampi nila,” Tulfo said.
“Kung may reklamo ka… o di pumirma ka, tapos sabihin mo doon na ‘with amendments.’ Edi doon ka mag-amend sa floor. That’s just the proper way,” he added.
Following the report’s failure to advance, Lacson transmitted the evidence gathered by the committee to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, who has since initiated a preliminary investigation into several incumbent and former senators allegedly linked to the controversy.
Tulfo opposed calls to reopen the Senate inquiry, arguing that the matter is now under the jurisdiction of anti-graft investigators and should be allowed to proceed independently.
He said the Senate’s role should remain limited to inquiries conducted in aid of legislation and should not overlap with ongoing prosecutorial proceedings.
Lacson later thanked Tulfo on social media for publicly discussing the internal resistance that, in his view, prevented the committee report from moving forward.
“Thank you Sen. Erwin for speaking the truth to confirm what I had thought all along was the real reason—bakit inamag at tuluyan nang napanis ang BRC partial report. Quo vadis, Philippine Senate?” Lacson wrote on X.
In the same interview, Tulfo also criticized a separate flood control hearing conducted by the Cayetano bloc on June 4, describing it as a “sham” and an exercise “in aid of grandstanding.”
He likewise renewed his call for Cayetano to accept the Senate leadership change and stop portraying the new majority as an extension of Malacañang.—Politiko.com.ph
