MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson said there was "no overall mastermind" of the flood control fund mess which he described as the largest corruption scandal in Philippine history.
Critics of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former speaker Martin Romualdez tagged them as the masterminds of anomalous flood control projects "There's no overall mastermind. I don' think there is an over all mastermind because as I said, this was driven by greed," Lacson said in a briefing.
"I think that there is a mastermind in every region, in every [Department of Public Works and Highways] district engineering office (DEO)," the Senate president pro tempore said in Filipino.
Lacson added, "There is an organized group within a certain agency, within certain DEO. That qualifies as a syndicate."
In a privilege speech Tuesday, Lacson raised the need to finally curb the "systemic and parasitic" greed behind anomalous flood control projects.
Lacson also debunked repeated accusations that he did not want to Romualdez to attend the panel's hearings, noting thst it had invited the congressman who did not attend.
He said the invitations to incumbent lawmakers were extended through the Office of the Speaker, in accordance with the established inter-chamber courtesy, to maintain the balance and mutual respect that define bicameral relations.
