EDITORIAL - Old boys’ club

According to several speculative reports, Vicente Sotto III nearly lost his post as Senate president last week partly because of the recommendations in a draft report of the Blue Ribbon committee that was circulated for signatures in the chamber.

The recommendations covered those who should face criminal indictments for their alleged involvement in the massive corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.

Senators have since denounced the leak of the Blue Ribbon report, which they stressed was just a draft. And true enough, the Blue Ribbon chaired by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson is reportedly set to introduce significant amendments to the report.

Among the recommendations is the criminal prosecution of two incumbent senators, Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva. The nation heard the testimonies that implicated the two senators along with their former colleague, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. Lacson has said this recommendation will not be amended.

Revilla is currently being held at the New Quezon City Jail for malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents – a non-bailable offense that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Reports over the weekend said the Blue Ribbon will also review the possible inclusion of President Marcos among those who can be held liable for the public works and budgeting anomalies.

The President, however, is immune from prosecution while in office and can only be removed by impeachment. And the flood control and budgeting controversies are included in the impeachment complaints filed against him, which the House committee on justice effectively junked last week.

Outside the Senate, other criticisms of the draft Blue Ribbon report are the non-inclusion of several other incumbent and former senators led by former Senate president Francis Escudero as well as congressmen led by former speaker Martin Romualdez. The two belong to a “second category” of persons whose culpability still needs further investigation, Lacson explained.

He has acknowledged the risk of not getting enough signatures, which means there will be no committee report. This leaves to the Office of the Ombudsman the task of holding crooks accountable.

If this happens, it will raise questions about the role of the Blue Ribbon. And it will reinforce impressions that the Senate is an old boys’ club, with its members closing ranks in defense not of national interest, but of their own.