Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson Jr will vacate his post as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, after some colleagues aired their disappointment over the investigation into anomalous flood control projects.

''Rightly or wrongly, when quite a number of them have expressed disappointment over how I’m handling the flood control project anomalies, I thought it’s time for me to step aside in favor of another member who they think can handle the committee better," Lacson said in a statement.

Lacson stressed that his fight against corruption will continue.

The change in leadership of the Senate's most influential committee could happen on Monday. A hearing that was set on October 8 was postponed.

Lacson told dzBB that a schedule for flood control projects investigation is still being worked out to fit the budget committee hearings for the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

Lacson assumed the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairmanship after Senator Tito Sotto was elected senate president, replacing Senator Francis Escudero.

Lacson, the former chief of the Philippine National Police, replaced Senator Rodante Marcoleta as Blue Ribbon Committee chairman.

He gave two privilege speeches which detailed the alleged extent of corruption in flood control projects in Bulacan where millions of pesos were wasted.

"No amount of criticisms from misinformed netizens and partisan sectors can distract or pressure me from doing my job right, but when my own peers start expressing their group or individual sentiments, maybe it is best to vacate. Nevertheless, I will continue to fight a corrupt and rotten system in the misuse and abuse of public funds as I have consistently done in the course of my long years in public service," he added.

Lacson scored the fake news and false narratives that some sectors insisted on circulating - that he is targeting some fellow senators while allegedly protecting members of the House of Representatives perceived to be the "masterminds" of the flood control mess - including former Speaker Martin Romualdez and ex-Rep. Elizaldy Co.

"If you ask me, I would say I handled the hearings well. But there are those trying to disrupt the hearings. In one instance, the hearing had barely started when someone tried to make a distraction. That is why there is a perception that the hearings were not handled well," Lacson said in Filipino.

Investigation over the flood control scandal has been assumed by the Independent Commission on Infrastructure. DMS