FIRING LINE: Encore for Lacson

FIRING LINE: Encore for Lacson

By Robert B. Roque Jr. l October 23, 2025

Senator Ping Lacson is set to reclaim his old post as Blue Ribbon Committee chair. According to Senate President Tito Sotto, that is a certainty.

If you ask me, Lacson should never have abandoned that chairmanship on the mere account of Senate colleagues flinching at their own reflection in the flood control scandal.

There’s no better sleuth in the Senate than Lacson. That’s why there’s a public clamor for his return. Of course, we also hear the speculation that if he returns, he just might sweep up the mess of certain corrupt officials under the rug – but I’m betting against it.

The Senate’s ego remains badly bruised since the Lacson-led hearings exposed incriminating testimonies against his fellow senators. But that’s not a reason for him to back down. If he truly returns, Lacson must complete what he started and expose anyone who shamelessly enriched themselves through DPWH contracts.

The Davao Connection

Meanwhile, former senator Antonio Trillanes III has filed plunder charges against Sen. Bong Go, his father, and half-brother, as well as ex-president Rodrigo Duterte. What’s been brought before the Ombudsman is ₱7 billion in public works contracts allegedly funneled through their firms in Davao.

The Go family has denied involvement, but the pattern is almost unmistakable: power breeding monopoly, monopoly breeding theft.

From the capital’s cocktail tables to Davao’s construction yards, the same disease festers. Every new revelation only proves one thing: the corruption we face today is not inherited — it’s alive, mutating, and self-replicating. Until someone truly severs the rot from the root, this republic will keep rebuilding the same broken bridge to nowhere.

First Lady’s circle of ‘friends’?

A private citizen has done what no one in government would probably dare to do: ask the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to probe First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos. Well, it appears there’s proof out there suggesting links to Maynard Ngu, the businessman accused of collecting ₱160 million for Sen. Chiz Escudero.

From the limited reports circulating Tuesday, photos of the First Lady dining with Ngu and Escudero were attached to the letter, prompting the ICI to “review” the request. Hmmm… should I read that to mean nothing will happen?

Ngu resigned from Altus Property Ventures after being named in the DPWH flood control racket. Well, at the very least, the ICI should pose the question of how deep Ngu’s friendships with Escudero and the First Lady go. If the ICI is serious, as the President himself says it is, then it should summon his wife and let the fact-finding process go where no one dares go.

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