Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Tuesday submitted compiled evidence to the Office of the Ombudsman regarding alleged fraudulent infrastructure projects in Taguig City, the political stronghold of Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.
Lacson revealed that his team gathered sufficient material to support potential charges of plunder, malversation, and violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against those involved.
In a social media update, the senator confirmed that his office turned over the documents for review and a potential independent investigation by state prosecutors.
“This morning, we turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman for their further evaluation and ‘motto proprio’ investigation all the documentary and testimonial evidence, i.e. official records culled from government websites, while others were supplied by reliable sources, that we have gathered so far,” Lacson said.
“We are looking at cases of plunder, malversation, violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019), etc.,” the senator added.
Lacson noted that the scale of irregularities in Taguig eclipses the questionable flood control projects his team previously uncovered in Bulacan.
“These include passing off an illegal reclamation project as slope protection structures with several ghost projects, cases of double appropriations , recycled photos belonging to past and already completed contracts to bill and collect for new ones—all controlled by one person, dating as far back as 2019,” he explained.
“For the period 2020-2025 alone, Taguig has accumulated ₱14.4B worth of infra projects and still counting,” he noted.
The former Philippine National Police chief emphasized that his investigation is driven purely by a demand for public accountability rather than personal motives, following recent clashes with Cayetano over his integrity.
“We hope the excellent research and investigative work that my staff did in this regard won’t be wasted and will contribute to the Ombudsman’s efforts to expedite their investigation,” Lacson said.
“We assure the Office of the Ombudsman we won’t relax. We will ‘kalkal’ pa more!” he added.