Tulfo disowns June 16 'Blue Ribbon hearing' promoted by Mike Defensor

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Erwin Tulfo, chairperson of the Blue Ribbon committee, has repudiated a June 16 "hearing" touted online by former congressman Mike Defensor, saying no such proceeding had been scheduled. 

In a written statement, Tulfo said the committee "categorically rejects the misinformation being circulated online," and told the public to disregard Defensor's announcement, which urged the public to gather at 10 a.m. Tuesday at an events venue along EDSA in Mandaluyong City.

"The Blue Ribbon Committee will not permit its name and institutional integrity to be misrepresented or utilized for unauthorized disclosures," Tulfo said.

The senator cited the chamber's rules, which require a formal three-day notice and distribution of the agenda before the conduct of any committee hearing. The purported June 16 proceeding, he said, "completely bypasses this institutional requirement, rendering it illegitimate."

Tulfo also stressed that Defensor is "neither a member of the Senate, nor the Blue Ribbon Committee" and "possesses no legal standing to announce any proceeding on behalf of the Senate."

Defensor, in a Facebook post a day earlier, urged the public to "support" what he billed as a Blue Ribbon hearing that would push through Tuesday morning at the said events venue. 

In doing so, Defensor said his call for support extended to Senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Camille and Mark Villar, Robin Padilla, Loren Legarda, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Go, Joel Villanueva and Ronald dela Rosa.

He also urged the public to back the "brave 18," referring to the 18 alleged former Marines who claim to be aides of fugitive ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co.

Tulfo himself was installed as Blue Ribbon chairperson on June 3, after a new Senate majority led by Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian declared all positions vacant. 

The reshuffle booted Pia Cayetano out of the chairship she had briefly held since a May 20 power grab that made her brother the Senate president. 

The Cayetano bloc has rejected the June 3 proceedings as unconstitutional and insists Sen. Pia Cayetano remains the rightful chair, even as the Palace has recognized Gatchalian as the official leader of the chamber. 

If it pushes through, the June 16 gathering at the Edsa events venue would be the breakaway Cayetano bloc's first attempt to convene an off-site "hearing" of the panel that is in charge of investigating graft and corruption.

On June 4, senators allied with Alan Peter Cayetano staged what they called a Blue Ribbon proceeding inside the Senate session hall, in defiance of Gatchalian's work-from-home order.   

It was during this proceeding that the 18 self-proclaimed former aides of Zaldy Co accused sitting lawmakers — including Tulfo and former Senate President Vicente Sotto III — of pocketing payoffs from rigged public works contracts. 

Tulfo has denied the claims and said he will inhibit himself when proper hearings resume. He has also filed oral defamation complaints against three of the 18 individuals.

The June 4 proceedings held by Cayetano's group were not officially recorded by the Senate secretary.