Ping Lacson believes it takes more than just one mind to create the flood control scam
Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson said that there is a possibility that there is more than one mastermind behind the alleged anomalies in the flood control projects.
Late last year, the issue in the anomalous flood control projects exploded. Several prominent names in the political arena were dragged into the issue. Among the prominent names that surfaced was former Congressman Zaldy Co, who is reportedly in France now.
Co was alleged to be the person behind the corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways in connection to flood control projects.
However, Sen. Ping Lacson believed that there is more than just one mastermind behind this anomaly in the government.
On Wednesday, May 6, Lacson had this statement after Senator Jinggoy Estrada asked if the main “mastermind” of the alleged scam had been identified, based on the article in Bandera.
“I think every region or every district engineer has a mastermind,” Lacson said. However, the senator clarified that this is not a large syndicate with a single leader.
Instead, he thinks that is seems like separate groups are operating in each area. “I don’t think there’s an overall mastermind because it’s driven by greed, so I said it’s parasitic…But there is an organized group within a specific agency or district engineering office. In Bulacan, that’s really a syndicate,” Lacson stressed.
He also pointed out that a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) office in Bulacan was allegedly involved in corruption in infrastructure projects.
The senator insisted that his statements were “based on evidence,” and said it was hard to believe that one person could control all the regional directors in the country.
When asked if Cong. Elizaldy Co could be considered a “mastermind,” Lacson disagreed.
“When you say mastermind, it implies a fully organized setup, like a mafia, where everyone follows you. I don’t think so…There may be a particular congressman — not necessarily Zaldy Co — who manipulates within his area of influence,” he explained.
Lacson also shared that, although he did not answer questions after his privilege speech on Tuesday, May 5, he had spoken with Estrada.
He emphasized that it is impossible to pinpoint a single mastermind behind the entire situation. The senator added that what they had tackled were microcosms, which are just representative samples of the extent of corruption in flood control projects.
In the said speech, Sen. Ping Lacson laid out the important parts of the partial report of the blue ribbon committee regarding the investigation into flood control projects.
At that time, he refused to answer additional questions from his fellow senators until the said report was signed by a majority of the committee members.
