Jamaine Punzalan

Senate President Vicente Sotto III attends the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects on Thursday, September 18, 2025. The hearing was also attended by officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways led by Sec. Vince Dizon, along with representatives of contractors implicated in alleged ghost and substandard projects nationwide. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Andrea Taguines

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175851761355820250918-senate-flood-control-tito-sotto-JC0598.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senate President Vicente Sotto III attends the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects on Thursday, September 18, 2025. The hearing was also attended by officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways led by Sec. Vince Dizon, along with representatives of contractors implicated in alleged ghost and substandard projects nationwide. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson Panfilo Lacson on Monday met with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure investigating alleged anomalies in flood control projects.  </p><p>Sotto said the ICI wanted to know more about budget procedures and how “individual amendments” or insertions are possible.</p><p>“I explained to them, sometimes, it’s individual amendments, institutional amendments, insertions. But ang pinakamasama sa lahat kapag merong insertions sa bicam… Tapos na ang third reading, sa bicam magsisingit ka. Illegal insertion yun,” he said.</p><p>Sotto said he would try to give the ICI a copy of the minutes of the “small committee” which is accused of making “illegal” insertions for various infrastructure projects in the 2025 budget.</p><p>“‘Yun ang tinanong nila sakin. Sabi ko susubukan ko on the part of the Senate,” he said.</p><p>(That’s what they asked for. I said I will try on the part of the Senate.)</p><p>The four-man &quot;small committee&quot;, which reviews and resolves the proposed individual amendments of congressmen on the proposed national budget, was supposedly composed of former House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Elizaldy Co, former Senate President Francis Escudero, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senator Grace Poe.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/17/puno-blames-zaldy-co-chiz-escudero-for-2025-budget-controversy-1602">Puno blames Zaldy Co, Chiz Escudero for 2025 budget controversy</a></div><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:560px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1969988952489918906&amp;lang=en&amp;maxWidth=560px&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-09-22T06%3A04%3A06.906155%3Aed66a499-6608-4afd-8a9f-f871abb5a971%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=6f3e1daff4430c084bc4046a454a6fd856017dbe&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:495px;height:279px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1969988952489918906"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><div><br/></div><p>But details of the said meeting remain elusive even to other lawmakers.</p><p>According to Sotto, there’s nothing wrong with forming the small committee. But he stressed that whatever changes made should still be approved by the bicameral conference committee.</p><p>“Ginagawa nila usually yun dahil mahirap yung masyadong maraming member ng bicam kung ang pag-uusapan lang ay 3 or 4 points… pero kailangan ang lumalabas doon sa small bicam ay approved nung regular bicam at tsaka maliwanag at transparent,” he said.</p><p>Sotto also vowed reforms as they deliberate the proposed 2026 national budget.</p><p>“Ang gagawin sa 2026 budget, para hindi mangyari yang ganyan, we will make sure that if ever there is a necessity for a smaller bicam, we will still make it open to the public, livestreaming,” he said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CONGRESS AS ORIGINAL SIN</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, Lacson was more direct in tagging lawmakers as the source of corruption, calling Congress the “original sin.”</p><p>“We want to go as far as reaching the original sin and the original sin is Congress. Kung walang nag-insert, walang paglalaruan yung mga district engineering offices e. So we’re mulling the idea na mag-usap yung House at tsaka yung Senate,” he said.</p><p>“Mag self-restraint na kami. Wag kami mag-insert, especially sa mga local infrastructure projects na nasa level ng DEO (District Engineering Offices) kasi parang we’re supplying them the resources to commit corruption,” added Lacson.</p><p>Lacson said he also testified before the ICI about the revelations he already made during his previous privilege speeches at the Senate.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>EVIDENCE FROM BRICE HERNANDEZ STILL INCOMPLETE</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KVbhhZS4wcA" title="Brice Hernandez isinuko ang luxury vehicle sa ICI, nagbigay ng &#x27;tell-all&#x27; | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>According to Lacson, the unsealing of further evidence from former Bulacan First District Assistant Engineer Brice Hernandez, which was originally set on Monday, was delayed because the computer containing more information was still left behind in the province as of Saturday.</p><p>“We’re discussing with the lawyer and Brice himself kung pwedeng balikan para i-retrieve kasi kung ibang agency ang kukuha doon, either i-search warrant nila yun or i-subpoena nila si Brice Hernandez… so it will be a longer process,” he said.</p><p>Lacson said they needed to be careful in following procedures for these types of evidence.</p><p>“We want to preserve the integrity of the evidence by preserving the chain of custody kasi pwedeng ma-technical knockout yan sa court if ever it gets there. Sabihin, polluted na yung ebidensya, so we need to be very careful,” he said.</p><p>Lacson added that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was willing to turn over whatever information it had to the ICI to aid its probe.</p><p>“Ang role namin is to complement yung ICI... Ang importante, may magamit doon para ma-prosecute yung dapat ma-prosecute,” he said.</p><p>Thousands of Filipinos rallied in Manila on Sunday to vent their anger over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.</p><p>The scandal has seen numerous lawmakers implicated and the leaders of both houses of Congress step down from their positions during an investigation.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/21/dizon-tags-zaldy-co-sunwest-inc-in-substandard-flood-projects-in-oriental-mindoro-1228">Dizon tags Zaldy Co, Sunwest Inc. in &#x27;substandard&#x27; flood projects in Oriental Mindoro</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/19/speaker-revokes-zaldy-co-s-travel-clearance-orders-his-immediate-return-1449">Speaker revokes Zaldy Co’s travel clearance, orders his immediate return</a></div><p>But <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/1-male-protester-dies-from-stabbing-1-injured-during-mendiola-protest-0921">Sunday&#x27;s street battles</a>, which saw multiple police vehicles set ablaze and the windows of a precinct headquarters shattered, threatened to overshadow demonstrations that had been filled with families, activists, clergy and politicians.</p><p>Police in Manila <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/93-police-officers-injured-113-protesters-arrested-in-violent-september-21-demonstration-0843">arrested more than 200 people </a>during clashes with masked protesters that erupted on a day of largely peaceful anti-corruption demonstrations, a spokeswoman said Monday.</p><p>At least 88 minors were among the initial count of 216 taken into custody Sunday as police deployed water cannons and deafening sirens against crowds of mostly young, rock-throwing protesters.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/dilg-chief-denies-police-gunshots-says-anarchists-to-face-raps-1052">DILG chief denies police gunshots, says &#x27;anarchists&#x27; to face raps</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/cardinal-david-says-death-penalty-biased-against-the-poor-1155">Death penalty vs the corrupt? Cardinal says the wealthy can &#x27;manipulate system&#x27;</a></div><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse </strong></div>

<p>Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson Panfilo Lacson on Monday met with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure investigating alleged anomalies in flood control projects.</p>

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson Panfilo Lacson on Monday met with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure investigating alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

Sotto, Lacson brief ICI on budget procedures, insertions

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Sotto, Lacson brief ICI on budget procedures, insertions

Andrea Taguines,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 22, 2025 01:10 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 22, 2025 07:49 PM PHT

Read More:

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flood control

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