The Senateโs flood-control probe opened another round on Friday with a stunning spectacle: not one of the 19 invited House members showed up. Not former Speaker Martin Romualdez, not Zaldy Co, not a single representative linked by witnesses to the alleged kickback web behind billions in questionable flood-control allocations.
Blue Ribbon chair Sen. Panfilo โPingโ Lacson called roll โ and hit nothing but air. All House members implicated by the Discaya spouses, along with Romualdez and Rep. Eric Yap, who were named by witness Orly Guteza, had been formally invited via a November 12 letter to Speaker Bojie Dy. Dy replied: his members would skip the hearing to avoid โprejudiceโ to the ongoing review of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI). The committee disagreed, but the seats stayed empty.
Zaldy Co, the alleged architect of budget insertions and overlapping roles between his congressional office and his company Sunwest Inc., also no-showed โ again. His lawyer Ruy Rondain said Co remained abroad โfor medical reasonsโ and warned that appearing before the Senate could compromise Coโs legal defenses. Lacson pushed back, stressing the invitation was addressed to Co himself, not to counsel.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, unimpressed, said Coโs medical documents were outdated and irrelevant and moved that if another hearing is set, a subpoena be issued โ and if Co still refuses to appear, he should be cited in contempt.
Multiple others skipped with excuses: contractor Jonathan Quirante cited post-typhoon site damage and pending paperwork; Eumir Villanueva had a prior commitment; Engr. Arjay Domasig had a scheduled DOJ appearance. Several DPWH officials invoked medical issues, including NCR Regional Director Gerard Opulencia, South Manila District Engineer Manny Bulusan, and Commissioner Mario Lipana.
The committee meanwhile sought clarity from the Bureau of Immigration. BI reports show:
– No departure records for: Mark Baquiran Bunagan, Orly Guteza, Mark Tecsay
– In-country: Allan Colesio (returned Oct. 24 from a short trip)
– Out of country: John Paul Estrada, alleged aide to Co, who left for Hong Kong on Sept. 2 and has not returned
Lacson emphasized that under Blue Ribbon rules, investigations cannot be stalled by parallel criminal cases: โThe inquiry continues.โ
But on Friday, the real headline wasnโt testimony โ it was who didnโt show up to give it.
Image from Mark Balmores